Thirteen hospitals in Los Angeles County have received five-star ratings from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, up from 11 last year, according to data from the federal agency released late last month.

Another 20 hospitals in the county received four stars from the agency, up from 13 last year.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rates annually the thousands of hospitals across the nation that serve Medicare and Medicaid patients; the ratings are designed to be a guide for consumers in choosing hospitals. The ratings, from one to five stars, summarize quality measures across five areas: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience and timely and effective care.

Nationwide, according to the agency, 483 hospitals, or just over 10% of those rated, received five stars, while 803 hospitals, or 17%, received four stars.

While the pool of hospitals rated in Los Angeles County was somewhat different this year compared to last year, the overall increase in the number of hospitals in the upper-star tiers does indicate improved patient care coming out of the pandemic.

“The CMS star rating system is the gold standard for measuring quality and safety,” said Teresa Frey, chief quality officer for Providence in California, a unit of Renton, Washington-based Providence Health & Services.  Providence saw two of its Los Angeles County hospitals – St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica and Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills – receive five-star ratings, and two more – St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance – receive four-star ratings.

“Providence is committed to advancing both by sharing expertise across our system, and having many of our hospitals earn 4 and 5 stars is evidence this practice is improving care for our patients,” Frey added.

One of the more surprising five-star ratings was given to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Willowbrook – the second consecutive year that hospital notched five stars.

Surprising because, 16 years ago, in late July 2007, the same Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agency conducted an inspection and delivered what proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the predecessor county-run Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital, which closed exactly four weeks later.

That ill-fated hospital had up to that point endured years of harsh criticism for an atypically high number of patient deaths under questionable circumstances and general poor quality of care delivered – so much so that the hospital’s nick name was “Killer King.” In late July 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a team to the hospital for what was widely considered a make-or-break quality-of-care inspection. The agency cited the hospital for placing patients in “immediate jeopardy.” Two weeks later, the agency moved to pull its $200 million in funding for the hospital, which at the time comprised half of the hospital’s budget. Within two weeks of that move, the County Board of Supervisors shut down the hospital.

It took another eight years – until 2015 – before the successor Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital opened on the same Willowbrook site. The much-smaller hospital focused more on community outreach, delivering care in clinics throughout South Los Angeles.

Now, the last two years have produced a dramatic turnaround, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services giving the hospital its highest quality rating.

“This is about fulfilling a promise of quality, compassionate care to an underserved community,” said Elaine Batchlor, the hospital’s chief executive. “Our dedicated, mission-driven staff met the challenge and delivered high-quality results.”