SCH Named #2 Small Hospital in Georgia

Georgia Trend Magazine has ranked Stephens County Hospital as one of the top small hospitals in the state, only ranking behind one other hospital in the state.

In the publication’s 2023 Top Hospitals report, released on Nov. 30,  twenty one hospitals statewide were placed in the Small Hospitals category, and Stephens County was ranked second, behind only Piedmont Mountainside Hospital in Jasper and on par with Emanuel Medical Center in Swainsboro and Piedmont Macon North Hospital in Macon. 

At Monday evenings meeting of the Stephens County Hospital Authority, Stephens County Hospital CEO Van Loskoski spoke of the ranking, crediting the work of physicians and staff, and saying the ranking was something to be proud of. 

According to information published with the rankings, Georgia Trend Magazine annually evaluates Georgia hospitals that participated in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program. The hospitals are ranked by the total performance score that is usually derived from four domains: clinical outcomes; person and community engagement; safety; and efficiency and cost reduction. Due to the pandemic, CMS adopted a policy to pause the use of data if it determined that COVID-19 had a significant impact on such measures. This year’s rankings are based on two of the four domains: the clinical outcomes domain and the efficiency and cost-reduction domain. 

Hospitals were grouped by similar size and mission, and Stephens County Hospital falls in the Small Hospitals (less than 100 beds) category. 

In regional hospital rankings on the Georgia Trend list, Habersham County Medical Center in Demorest was ranked #3 out of the 26 statewide medium size hospitals (100-249 beds), while St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens was ranked #17 in medium size hospitals. Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville was ranked #3 in the large hospital category.