Rapides Regional's Surgical Care cited among nation's best
Rapides Regional Medical Center has been named one of the 50 best hospitals in America for Surgical Care by Healthgrades in its 2026 Specialty Excellence Awards. The hospitals that achieve recognition for exceptional clinical performance in specialty care from Healthgrades place these hospitals among the top 10 percent nationwide for specialty services.
Healthgrades’ Surgical Care Excellence Award recognizes hospitals with superior clinical outcomes in overall surgical care across 15 of the most common in-hospital procedures, including cardiac, vascular, joint replacement, prostate, spine and gastrointestinal surgeries.
Rapides Regional was also recognized as one of the 100 best hospitals for Critical Care in America, placing it among a select group of top hospitals nationally that were assessed and validated for providing outstanding quality outcomes.
Rapides Regional Medical Center was the only hospital in Louisiana to make either list. In all, Healthgrades cited Rapides Regional for providing exception care in eight specialties: cardiac, orthopedics, neurosciences, pulmonary, vascular, gastrointestinal, critical care and surgical care.
“These national awards recognize our unwavering commitment to high-quality, compassionate and patient-centered specialty services,” said Vernon Jones, CEO of Rapides Regional Medical Center. “This recognition reflects our pursuit of providing a higher level of care for our patients and our community.”
These achievements are based solely on what matters most: patient outcomes. Each year, Healthgrades evaluates risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for over 30 common conditions and procedures at approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide to identify the top hospitals in key specialty areas. Through easy-to-understand, objective measures of hospital performance, Healthgrades empowers patients with the information they need to find a hospital that excels in their procedure or condition. To measure performance, Healthgrades used Medicare inpatient data from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) file purchased from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for years 2022 through 2024., and
“Healthgrades’ specialty awards identify the nation’s top-performing hospitals in key service areas, helping consumers find high quality care tailored to their specific needs,” says Alana Biggers, MD, MPH, medical advisor at Healthgrades. “We’re proud to recognize Rapides Regional Medical Center for its consistently superior outcomes in key service areas.”
Here are Rapides Regional Medical Center’s other outstanding Healthgrades achievements:
Cardiac
- Five-star recipient for treatment of heart attacks
- Five-star recipient for treatment of heart failure 2 years in a row
Orthopedics
- Five-star recipient for hip fracture treatment 6 years in a row
Neurosciences
- Recipient of Healthgrades’ 2026 Stroke Care Excellence Award
- Named Top 10 percent in nation for treatment of stroke
- Five-star recipient for cranial neurosurgery 2 years in a row
- Five-star recipient for treatment of stroke 2 years in a row
Pulmonary
- Five-star recipient for treatment of pneumonia 2 years in a row
Vascular
- Five-star recipient for carotid procedures 4 years in a row
Gastrointestinal
- Recipient of Healthgrades’ 2026 Gastrointestinal Care Excellence Award
- Recipient of Healthgrades’ 2026 Gastrointestinal Surgery Excellence Award
- Named among top 10 percent in nation overall GI services
- Named among top 10 percent in nation for gastrointestinal surgery
- Five-star recipient for colorectal surgeries 2 years in a row
- Five-star recipient for treatment of pancreatitis
- Five-star recipient for gallbladder removal surgery 2 years in a row
Critical Care
- Recipient of Healthgrades Critical Care Excellence Award 2 years in a row
- Named among top 5 percent in nation for critical care
- Named among top 10 percent in nation for critical 2 years in a row
- Five-star recipient for treatment of sepsis 2 years in a row
- Five-star recipient for treatment of diabetic hospitalizations 4 years in a row
Surgical Care
- Recipient of Healthgrades Surgical Care Excellence Award
- Named among top 5 percent of hospitals in nation for surgical care