Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Ontario Earns 4‑Star Rating on Inaugural Forbes Top Hospitals 2026 List

Ranking places Ontario hospital among top 15% of acute care hospitals in the country

Ontario, OR — Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Ontario has earned a 4‑star rating on Forbes’ inaugural Top Hospitals 2026 list, placing the rural Eastern Oregon hospital among a select group of U.S. facilities recognized nationally for quality, value, and patient outcomes.

The Forbes Top Hospitals rating system evaluates general acute care hospitals across the country, providing consumers with an unbiased, data‑driven comparison of hospitals delivering high‑quality care—regardless of size or location. For a hospital serving a rural region, the recognition highlights the ability to achieve national‑level performance while meeting the unique challenges of rural healthcare delivery.

“Earning a 4‑star national rating is especially meaningful for a rural Eastern Oregon hospital like ours,” said Dina Ellwanger, President. “Our teams care for patients across a large geographic region, often with limited access to specialty services close to home. This recognition reflects the dedication of our physicians, nurses, and staff to delivering safe, high‑quality care to our community and ensuring rural patients receive the same standard of excellence found in larger metropolitan areas.”

Approximately 5,400 general acute care hospitals nationwide were eligible for consideration. Of the 2,600 hospitals that met the inclusion criteria, just 520 hospitals earned a 4‑star rating. The ranking places the Ontario hospital among the top 15% of acute care hospitals in the country. To develop the rankings, Forbes collaborated with healthcare measurement experts, including an advisory panel of clinicians, scientists, health policy researchers, and patient advocates, and partnered with Inovalon, a healthcare data and analytics firm. The methodology is based on validated data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Provider Data Catalog.

Hospitals do not pay to appear on the list. They were assessed independently using nationally recognized quality measures that emphasize clinical patient outcomes, including mortality, survival, infection, and readmission rates, as well as hospital best practices, value, and patient experience.

Clinical outcomes were weighted most heavily and statistically adjusted for social drivers of health, such as socioeconomic factors and access to care.

Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Ontario is part of Saint Alphonsus Health System, a ministry of Trinity Health, and provides inpatient, outpatient, emergency, and specialty services to residents of Malheur County and surrounding rural communities.

Click here for more information on the Forbes rankings.

For more information about Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Ontario, visit saintalphonsus.org.