HCA Florida JFK Hospital Named to 2026 100 Top Hospitals® list
HCA Florida JFK Hospital and HCA Florida Palms West Hospital have been named among the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals®, according to an independent, nationally recognized quality analysis conducted by Premier, Inc., and published by Modern Healthcare.
For more than 30 years, Premier’s 100 Top Hospitals® program has used objective, quantitative analysis of publicly available data to identify top-performing hospitals in the United States. The program is designed to help healthcare leaders pursue higher performance and deliver greater value to patients and communities by providing transparent, unbiased benchmarks and actionable insights. Hospitals do not apply to participate in the study, and award recipients do not pay to market their honor.
“We’re honored to be recognized as one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals,” said Ken West, chief executive officer of HCA Florida JFK Hospital. “This distinction reflects the extraordinary work of our colleagues and their ongoing commitment to advancing quality, improving outcomes, and delivering exceptional care to our community.”
100 Top Hospitals® Program Performance
Based on comparisons between the study’s top performers and peer hospitals, the analysis found that this year’s 100 Top Hospitals® delivered better outcomes while operating more efficiently. If all hospitals performed at the level of this year’s top performers, the impact for Medicare inpatients could include:
- More than 279,000 additional lives saved
- More than 477,000 additional patients complication-free
- More than $14.3 billion in inpatient cost savings
- More than 21,700 fewer patients readmitted within 30 days
Additionally, this year’s benchmark hospitals outperformed peers across all 10 performance measures and in every comparison group. Key findings from the study include:
- A 36.8 percent difference in inpatient mortality between benchmark hospitals and peer hospitals nationally
- Small community hospitals showed the largest improvement in inpatient mortality, with a 49.3 percent difference compared to peers
- Teaching hospitals demonstrated the largest difference in complications, outperforming peers by 30 percent
- Fifty-five hospitals were repeat winners from the previous year, reinforcing the role of sustained improvement and system-level performance
“Premier’s 100 Top Hospitals program recognizes healthcare organizations that consistently deliver high-quality care while improving operational and financial performance,” said David Zito, President of Performance Services at Premier. “By highlighting top performers and providing transparent, data-driven insights, this program helps hospitals nationwide identify opportunities to enhance care delivery, strengthen financial sustainability, and improve outcomes for the communities they serve.”
Building on this recognition, both hospitals also earned the prestigious Everest Award, placing them among the best-performing and fastest-improving hospitals in the nation.
The Everest Award is the highest honor within the 100 Top Hospitals® program, recognizing hospitals that not only rank among the best, but also have demonstrated the most rapid and consistent improvement over the past five years across clinical, operational, financial, and patient perception measures.
“We are incredibly proud of these recognitions, which reflect the dedication of our entire team and their focus on continuous improvement,” said Cory Mead, chief executive officer of HCA Florida Palms West Hospital. “As we celebrate 40 years of caring for our community, earning both the 100 Top Hospitals® designation and the Everest Award reinforces our commitment to advancing quality, enhancing the patient experience, and meeting the evolving needs of those we serve.”