David Dunning, the director of the Memphis VA, said this summer he was optimistic about the prospects of the hospital improving in the department's rankings when new data came out this fall.
The new ratings came out Wednesday and reflected more of the same for the troubled hospital.
Three of Tennessee’s four VA hospitals — in Memphis, Nashville and Murfreesboro — are rated among the worst in the entire VA network of nearly 150 hospitals, given just 1 out of 5 total stars.
It’s a contrast to the state’s other VA hospital in Mountain Home, which again was given 4 out of 5 stars.
The ratings show that each of the three poorly rated hospitals made improvements, and at two of them — Murfreesboro and Nashville — significant improvements. But even that upward trend didn’t change the overall rating.
In response to the ratings, the three hospitals issued almost the exact same response, each statement replacing only the name of the hospital.
“Secretary (David) Shulkin has been clear that transparency is a crucial component of our efforts to reform the department. That’s why we’re posting these important end-of-year ratings, which document improvements at 64 percent of rated VA medical centers," the statement read.
“Regionally, the Memphis Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center rates well above local area hospitals in almost every facet of outpatient care. It is most important to note the facility improved overall against its own baseline.”
The Tennessee Valley Healthcare System — which includes the Nashville and Murfreesboro facilities — added a sentence.
“In addition, the Community Living Center on our Murfreesboro campus is rated on its own and received another four-star rating, just as it has in recent years,” its statement read.
In some data sets generated by the VA itself, the hospitals do compare favorably to others. But other data sets that are included in the overall rating show mortality rates at Memphis three times higher than benchmarks, longer lengths of stays and higher readmission rates at all three.
The data also showed poor ratings from patients at all three hospitals, and Memphis nearly 30 percentage points below benchmarks.
Memphis has been among four hospitals in the VA where conditions were so poor that top VA officials required weekly reports from the hospitals.
In September, USA TODAY uncovered alarming cases of botched surgeries that led to amputations, sudden deaths after treatment and human parts found in hospital rooms.
Reach Jake Lowary at jlowary@tennessean.com or on Twitter at @JakeLowary.
