Eastern Maine Medical Center, Northern Light Health’s Bangor hospital, received the highest possible rating on Forbes’ first-ever top hospitals list last month.
The business magazine awarded EMMC five stars, making it the only hospital in Maine to get top marks.
The recognition comes as Northern Light Health attempts to recover from years of financial struggles. The health care system lost $15 million in fiscal year 2025, the Bangor Daily News reported last month, up from $156 million the previous year.
“We’re certainly pleased to be the only hospital in the state to get an overall five-star rating,” EMMC president Ava Collins said. “To us here at EMMC, that is a testament of what we do every day. Our doctors and our nurses and our support team members come to work every day to provide the highest quality of care to our patients and to the surrounding communities.”
In total, the Forbes list included 253 five-star hospitals and 509 four-star hospitals across the country from a pool of 5,400 general acute care hospitals, according to Forbes.
The list placed special emphasis on patient outcomes by prioritizing metrics like survival and readmissions, while also measuring hospital best practices, value and patient experience as criteria.
Patient outcomes include a wide variety of metrics, Collins said. A low number of surgical side infections, a low readmit rate, and a low number of patients who leave the emergency room before they’re seen all contribute to a strong pattern of patient outcomes.
She attributed the hospital’s high overall marks to the work of its caregivers and noted that EMMC has also received an A grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national patient advocacy organization, for the last three years.
EMMC scored highest marks from Forbes on outcomes and value, while it received four stars for best practices and three stars for patient experience.
“We think the experience that our patients are getting here is much higher than a three,” Collins said, noting that the hospital’s patient experience surveys measure a wide range of factors.
That said, “we have a big focus this year to move that patient experience score,” she added.
The Forbes list was compiled by a panel of health care experts working with a health care data and analytics firm using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, with the goal of giving potential patients a simplified, unbiased list of hospitals.
Three other Maine hospitals — MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston — were also recognized on Forbes’ list with four-star ratings.
Leaders of all three hospitals attributed their high ratings to the day-to-day dedication of their staff.
“Our patients deserve the highest quality care, and they want to receive it right here in the Kennebec Valley,” MaineGeneral Health president and CEO Nathan Howell said.
The Augusta-based health care system will continue to focus on patient outcomes and patient experience in both clinical and non-clinical areas in the coming year, according to spokesperson Nicole McSweeney.
Jeff Zewe, president and CEO of Northern Maine Medical Center, called the Forbes recognition an “extraordinary honor” and added, “Providing high-quality care in a rural setting comes with unique challenges, and this acknowledgment affirms that our team continues to meet — and exceed ― national standards while delivering exceptional care close to home.”
St. Mary’s Health System president Win Brown said the recognition as a top American hospital is a sign of “the quality of care being delivered across St. Mary’s and the trust our community places in us.”
Brown noted that St. Mary’s wants to expand access and offer more advanced medical and surgical options in the coming year, including by adding bariatric services and expanding primary care, pediatrics and specialty care.
“We are also making significant investments in behavioral health and recovery services, which remain among the most urgent needs in our community,” he said. That includes space upgrades for the hospital’s short-term, intensive mental health care program, launching a new program with six months of aftercare for adolescents leaving inpatient treatment, and expanding access to substance use treatment.