Brownsville, Texas — Valley Regional Medical Center, part of HCA Healthcare, announced that it has been recognized as a top performing hospital in the 2026 Modern Healthcare 100 Top Hospitals program powered by Premier.
“We are extremely proud of and grateful to our colleagues and clinicians on our medical staff whose dedication made this achievement possible,” said Joe Hernandez, CEO of Valley Regional Medical Center. “Our commitment to best practices helps us deliver high-quality care with our patients at the center of everything we do.”
Based on publicly available data from Medicare Cost Reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Care Compare, the 100 Top Hospitals are selected based on performance in clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, patient experience and financial health. This year, researchers evaluated 2,540 short-term, acute care, non-federal U.S. hospitals using these publicly available data sources. Unlike ranking programs that require hospitals to apply for evaluation, the program identifies top performers through an objective, quantitative analysis of hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of patients.
In addition to scoring among the top 100, Valley Regional Medical Center received the Everest Award, which honors hospitals that achieved both benchmark performance and the fastest long-term improvement over five years, demonstrating exceptional and sustained progress across Premier’s balanced scorecard of performance measures.
Valley Regional Medical Center is nationally recognized for multiple quality achievements including:
- Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award™, placing Valley Regional Medical Center in the top 10% of hospitals nationwide for patient safety for four consecutive years.
- American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus quality achievement award for stroke care.
- U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Procedures & Conditions ratings, recognized as High Performing for heart attack.
HCA Healthcare integrates systems of care and leverages technology and robust data sets in the pursuit of delivering high-quality care in a safe environment for patients and colleagues. As a national healthcare system, HCA Healthcare uses its approximately 47 million annual patient encounters to support medical learning and healthcare transformation at its facilities and beyond. For example:
- HCA Healthcare has achieved a 33-minute median door-to-needle time for stroke patients, 45% faster than the national benchmark.
- HCA Healthcare’s High Risk Obstetrical (OB) Programs are designed to elevate maternal health outcomes.To support this effort, in 2025 the company integrated its OB Safety Model into facilities with OB hospitalist services to help improve patient safety for obstetric patients through the implementation of a standard model for rapid clinical response during emergencies.
- HCA Healthcare’s Patient Safety and Infection Prevention teams work in close partnership to reduce preventable harm and strengthen protection for patients, visitors and colleagues. This collaboration focuses on aligning systems, data and accountability to improve visibility into infection-related risk across the enterprise.
To learn more about services at visit the Valley Regional Medical Center website.