Virginia rises in national health rankings

United Health Foundation’s most recent America’s Health Rankings annual report ranks Virginia as one of the most improved states in health metrics, hospital alliance Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association announced Monday.

Virginia was one of three states that “made the largest improvements in the rankings since 2018.” Virginia improved in health outcomes and behaviors, according to the report. Scoring is based on 35 measures across five categories including behaviors, community and environment, policy, clinical care and health outcomes. Data sources used in reporting included the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Achieving that goal requires commitment from many stakeholders and partners,” VHHA president and CEO Sean T. Connaughton said in a statement. “Hospitals and health systems have consistently demonstrated a commitment to that effort through action … more work remains to be done, but these year-over-year gains are proof that progress is being made.”

The report comes one year into Virginia Medicaid expansion which allows more than 342,000 people to enroll in its coverage, and the VHHA says Virginia ranks nationally on other health care lists.

America’s Health Rankings has performed a state-by-state analysis of national health for more than 30 years, evaluating health, environmental and socioeconomic data.

The fall 2019 Hospital Safety Grade scores showed that Virginia ranks third in the nation for health care patient safety. The state rankings reflect the number of “A” graded hospitals in a state.

Virginia also received an “A” grade in the 2019 “State-by-State Report Card on Access to Palliative Care in Our Nation’s Hospitals” from the Center to Advance Palliative Care and the National Palliative Care Research Center.

More than a dozen Virginia hospitals in 2019 were on the “America’s Best Hospitals for 2019” annual list compiled by Healthgrades. Two hospitals were on the “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” (top 1% of hospitals) and “America’s 100 Best Hospitals” (top 2% of hospitals).