Hospital record · FY2026CCN 360071

1Hospital

Van Wert County Hospital

2Location

Van Wert, OH (Ohio’s hospitals on the map and in the table) 45891

Van Wert County

3Type

Not a teaching hospital · 120 beds · Nonprofit · Rural · Medicare-dependent hospital

4Care Compare stars

5 of 5 stars

Overall rating, CMS Care Compare data of July 22, 2026
Open on Care Compare (opens in a new tab)

5Total HAC Score

−0.2748

As CMS reports it

6Payment reduction

No cut

CMS’s value: No

7Estimated cut

A cut would have been $46K, likely $33⁠–⁠52K estimate

No cut

from this program

For fiscal year 2026, CMS reports a Total HAC Score of −0.2748 for Van Wert County Hospital and a payment reduction decision of No.

A cut would have taken about $46K estimate 1% of about $4.6M, this site’s estimate of what traditional Medicare pays it for inpatient stays in a year. Its score was 0.6547 under 0.3799, the lowest score CMS cut.

Likely range $33–52K

Its score was at or below CMS’s line, so this program did not cut its Medicare payments for the year. The score compares hospitals with each other; it is not a grade of the quality of care.

CMS cut scores of 0.3799 and above.

Each year CMS cuts the hospitals with the highest quarter of scores, those above the 75th percentile, so the line moves with other hospitals’ scores.

Higher than 33% of the other 2,928 scores CMS published (higher is worse).

Its record, fiscal years 2015 to 2026 Cut in 2 of 11 years

15Cut
16No
17No
18No
19No
20No
21No
22No
23—
24Cut
25No
26No

Where the score came from

CMS scored this hospital on 3 of the 6 measures. On every measure a lower value is better. Each row puts the hospital among every hospital with a value: the gray columns are those hospitals, the tall tick is the national median, and the hatched ends score the same as CMS’s floor or cap.

Bringing SSI down to the national median (0.795) would lower the score the most: by 0.3672, to −0.6420. Try it in the what-if

Figure 1. Of its 3 measures with a value, this hospital is above the national median on 1; SSI added the most to its score.

This hospital
National median
Scores the same as CMS’s floor or cap

PSI 90 (what it counts)
Safety problems such as serious bedsores, falls that break a bone and blood clots after surgery, found by CMS in traditional Medicare claims. A value of 1 matches the national composite value.
Patient safety and adverse events composite
Better than 61% of the other 2,808 hospitals
estimate

This site recomputes this measure’s z‑score from CMS’s published value. The recompute can differ from CMS’s z‑score by up to 0.0021. How this site estimates

CMS value0.9356

Z-score−0.3690

Part of score−0.1230
CLABSI (what it counts)
Bloodstream infections tied to a central line, a tube often placed in a large vein in the neck, chest or groin. Hospitals report them to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network. A value of 1.0 means as many infections as the CDC’s model predicted.
Central line–associated bloodstream infections
Not scored on this measure
CMS footnote 13: Results cannot be calculated for this reporting period.
CMS footnote 5: Results are not available for this reporting period.

CMS valueno value published

Z-scoreno value published

Part of scoreno value published
CAUTI (what it counts)
Urinary tract infections that start from a urinary catheter, a tube that drains the bladder. Hospitals report them to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network. A value of 1.0 means as many infections as the CDC’s model predicted.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections
Not scored on this measure
CMS footnote 13: Results cannot be calculated for this reporting period.
CMS footnote 5: Results are not available for this reporting period.

CMS valueno value published

Z-scoreno value published

Part of scoreno value published
SSI (what it counts)
Deep infections at the site of colon surgery or an abdominal hysterectomy, within a month of the operation, pooled into one measure. Hospitals report them to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network. A value of 1.0 means as many infections as the CDC’s model predicted.
added the most
Surgical site infections after colon surgery or abdominal hysterectomy
Worse than 83% of the other 2,269 hospitals

CMS value1.438

Z-score1.0068

Part of score+0.3356
CDI (what it counts)
C. diff infections, which cause diarrhea and inflammation of the colon, found by a lab test and starting in the hospital. Hospitals report them to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network. A value of 1.0 means as many infections as the CDC’s model predicted.
Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections
Better than 91% of the other 2,766 hospitals
estimate

This site recomputes this measure’s z‑score from CMS’s published value. The recompute can differ from CMS’s z‑score by up to 0.0071. How this site estimates

CMS value0.000

Z-score−1.4622

Part of score−0.4874
MRSA (what it counts)
Bloodstream infections with MRSA, a germ that resists several antibiotics, found by a lab test and starting in the hospital. Hospitals report them to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network. A value of 1.0 means as many infections as the CDC’s model predicted.
MRSA bloodstream infections
Not scored on this measure
CMS footnote 13: Results cannot be calculated for this reporting period.
CMS footnote 5: Results are not available for this reporting period.

CMS valueno value published

Z-scoreno value published

Part of scoreno value published

Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog, HACRP FY2026 (yq43-i98g), released August 13, 2026.

Show table

Measure	CMS value	National median	Z-score	Part of the score	Among hospitals
PSI 90	0.9356	0.9623	−0.3690	−0.1230	Better than 61% of the other 2,808 hospitals
CLABSI	no value published	0.559	no value published	no value published	Not scored on this measure
CAUTI	no value published	0.489	no value published	no value published	Not scored on this measure
SSI	1.438	0.795	1.0068	+0.3356	Worse than 83% of the other 2,269 hospitals
CDI	0.000	0.346	−1.4622	−0.4874	Better than 91% of the other 2,766 hospitals
MRSA	no value published	0.641	no value published	no value published	Not scored on this measure

How the parts add up

CMS adds the z‑scores and divides by the number of measures scored, so each measure counts the same. Each bar below is one z‑score divided by 3; a bar right of zero raised the score and one left of zero lowered it.

(−0.3690PSI 90+1.0068SSI−1.4622CDI)÷3measures=−0.2748Total HAC Score

Added from the rounded z‑scores CMS published, the parts make −0.2748; CMS reports −0.2748. The small difference is rounding.

This hospital’s score is 0.6547 below 0.3799, the lowest score CMS marked Yes. (This site recomputes.)

Figure 2. The parts add up to −0.2748, below CMS’s line.

This site recomputes · Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog, HACRP FY2026 (yq43-i98g), released August 13, 2026.

Show table

Measure	Z-score	Part of the score	Running total
PSI 90	−0.3690	−0.1230	−0.1230
SSI	1.0068	+0.3356	0.2126
CDI	−1.4622	−0.4874	−0.2748
Total HAC Score			−0.2748
CMS’s line		0.3792	0.3799

The money is a cliff

This program’s cut doesn’t grow with the score. Over CMS’s line, CMS cuts 1% of what traditional Medicare pays a hospital for inpatient stays that year; at or under the line, this program cuts nothing.

The chart draws what the cut would be for this hospital at any Total HAC Score, from this site’s estimate of its payments, with its own score marked.

Figure 3. The cut is a cliff, not a slope: this hospital’s score, 0.6547 under the lowest score CMS cut, costs it nothing; 0.6547 higher, the cut would have been about $46K by this site’s estimate, the same as at CMS’s highest score, 2.3133.

Under the axis, every Total HAC Score CMS published: 306 of the 2,929 scored within 0.1 of CMS’s line, on one side or the other.

Estimate · Source: this site’s arithmetic on CMS’s FY2026 IPPS final rule files (the impact file, the rate tables and the value-based factors), its FY2026 HRRP supplemental file and HACRP FY2026 (yq43-i98g), released August 13, 2026.

Show table

Score	Total HAC Score	Estimated HAC cut (whole dollars)
Any score up to 0.3792	0.3792	$0
Any score from 0.3799	0.3799	−$46,389
This hospital	−0.2748	$0
CMS’s highest score	2.3133	−$46,389

The money, line by line

This site estimates what traditional Medicare pays the hospital for a year of inpatient stays, from CMS’s FY2026 payment files, then applies Medicare’s three hospital quality programs: the readmissions and value-based adjustments to the base payment, and the HAC cut last, as the law sets.

The readmissions and value-based programs adjust only the base payment: the DRG rates times the hospital’s cases, and a Medicare-dependent hospital’s add-on. The HAC cut comes last and takes 1% of everything left, teaching, low-income-patient, outlier, capital and uncompensated care payments included.

($4,608,085payment−$1,513readmissions+$32,343value-based)×1%the cut=$46,389at stake

$46,389at stake÷257traditional Medicare stays=$181per traditional Medicare stay

Figure 4. No HAC cut this year; 1% of the hospital’s whole inpatient payment would have been about $46K by this site’s estimate. The readmissions and value-based adjustments, on the base alone, came to −$2K and +$32K.

Estimated Medicare inpatient payments · FY2026 estimate

What traditional Medicare pays it for inpatient stays
DRG payments at the federal rates	$2,682,727
Medicare-dependent hospital add-on	$343,604
Base payment the base	$3,026,331
Many low-income patients (disproportionate share)	$47,538
Low-volume adjustment	$855,435
Capital: buildings and equipment	$208,280
Uncompensated care	$470,501
Total, before the three programs	$4,608,085
The three programs: two on the base, the HAC cut last
Readmissions (HRRP) base × (0.9995 − 1)	−$1,513
Value-based purchasing (HVBP) base × (1.0107 − 1)	+$32,343
After these two	$4,638,915
HAC Reduction Program no cut; 1% would have been $46,389	$0
Net of the three programs likely $21⁠–⁠33K	+$30,830

Not paid to this hospital: teaching payments, outlier payments, and a sole community hospital rate difference.

Whole dollars, so every line adds up; the estimate is not that precise. Each likely range spans the middle 80% of the misses this site’s estimate made for similar hospitals (or for a wider group, where there were too few) when it was checked against their FY2024 cost reports: one year’s check, not a promise of how often a hospital’s actual figure lands inside.

Show table

Line	Amount (whole dollars)
DRG payments at the federal rates	$2,682,727
Medicare-dependent hospital add-on	$343,604
Base payment (the base)	$3,026,331
Many low-income patients (disproportionate share)	$47,538
Low-volume adjustment	$855,435
Capital: buildings and equipment	$208,280
Uncompensated care	$470,501
Total, before the three programs	$4,608,085
Readmissions (HRRP) (base × (0.9995 − 1))	−$1,513
Value-based purchasing (HVBP) (base × (1.0107 − 1))	+$32,343
After these two	$4,638,915
HAC Reduction Program (no cut; 1% would have been $46,389)	$0
Net of the three programs (likely $21–33K)	+$30,830

What if a measure were different?

Change a measure’s value to see how this site recomputes the Total HAC Score, the payment reduction decision and, by its estimate, the money, starting from CMS’s values. The money doesn’t slide with the score: it drops off a cliff at CMS’s line.

The what-if needs JavaScript. Without it, the values below stay as they are.

Show table

	CMS reports	Hypothetical
Total HAC Score	−0.2748	same
Payment reduction decision	No	same
Payment cut	0%	same
Estimated HAC cut estimate	$0	same

CMS’s line: between 0.3792 and 0.3799

The faint ticks are CMS’s line in earlier years under the same formula, from about 0.300 (FY2022) to about 0.375 (FY2024). The line moves every year, so a hospital can cross it without changing anything.

CMS reports a Total HAC Score of −0.2748 and a payment reduction decision of No.

A what-if shows the formula’s arithmetic, not what a hospital could realistically change or how. CMS’s real result also depends on other hospitals.

How much cushion?

Staying at or under CMS’s line keeps about $46K out of this program’s cut, this site estimates: a score a hair over would cost all of it.

From CMS’s values, one measure at a time, with every other measure held at CMS’s value.

Measure	Highest value that keeps No
PSI 90	up to 1.2165
SSI	any value: every SSI value past the cap (2.118) scores the same
CDI	up to 0.506

Each measure weighs 1 ÷ 3 of the score.

Measure values

SIR 1.0 = as many infections as predicted · Lower is better

On each track the tick is the national median; shaded values score the same as the floor or cap, as this site fits them to CMS’s values.

Patient safety and adverse events composite PSI 90

PSI 90 value

CMS 0.9356 · median 0.9623 · floor 0.7760 · cap 1.3482 · each 0.1 = 0.2327

Surgical site infections after colon surgery or abdominal hysterectomy SSI

SSI value

CMS 1.438 · median 0.795 · cap 2.118 · each 0.1 = 0.0571

Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections CDI

CDI value

CMS 0.000 · median 0.346 · cap 0.944 · each 0.1 = 0.1291

Have your NHSN predicted counts? (optional, stays in your browser)

Stays in your browser; never sent.

Optional: your NHSN predicted infections for SSI, January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024

Optional: your NHSN predicted infections for CDI, January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024

Figure 5. SSI added the most to this hospital’s Total HAC Score of −0.2748 among its measured results: +0.3356.

PSI 90 −0.1230
SSI +0.3356
CDI −0.4874

A measure adds its z‑score divided by 3, the number of measures scored. Bars right of the center line raise the score. Hatched: assigned by CMS.

This site recomputes · Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog, HACRP FY2026 (yq43-i98g), released August 13, 2026.

Show table

Measure	Z-score	Part of the score	Hypothetical
PSI 90	−0.3690	−0.1230	same
SSI	1.0068	+0.3356	same
CDI	−1.4622	−0.4874	same

Interactive what-if at https://paidandpenalized.org/hacrp/hospital/360071/

Among hospitals with a Yes or No payment decision, CMS cut those with a published Total HAC Score of 0.3799 or higher and none at 0.3792 or lower. Maryland’s hospitals are scored but not subject to the reduction.

Held fixed: every other hospital’s results, CMS’s line, and each measure’s mean, spread, floor and cap as this site fits them to CMS’s published values.

Year by year

Where this hospital’s score fell among every hospital’s, each year CMS published one. A score near the top is among the highest; the shaded band is where CMS cut. Places compare across years even where CMS changed how it builds the score.

Figure 6. CMS cut this hospital in 2 of the 11 years it made a decision.

● Red: a year CMS cut it ○ Hollow: a year it didn’t

This site recomputes · Source: CMS, HACRP hospital files for fiscal years 2015 to 2026 (Provider Data Catalog, its archives and, for the oldest years, the Internet Archive’s copies), and CMS’s cut lists for FY2015 and FY2016.

Show table

Fiscal year	Total HAC Score	Higher than this share of scores	Payment reduction
FY2015	8.0000	88.5%	cut
FY2016	2.0000	4.1%	not cut
FY2017	1.6000	3.0%	not cut
FY2018	−1.5906	2.7%	not cut
FY2019	−0.4423	23.6%	not cut
FY2020	0.2321	69.5%	not cut
FY2021	−0.8200	8.8%	not cut
FY2022	0.2531	72.2%	not cut
FY2023			no decision
FY2024	1.6490	97.6%	cut
FY2025	−0.2845	31.6%	not cut
FY2026	−0.2748	33.8%	not cut

Its infections, year by year

This hospital’s infection rate against prediction for each calendar year Care Compare published one, on each measure with at least two years of results (black), over the nation’s middle hospital (gray). Below the dashed line at one, fewer infections than predicted. Each year is measured against the same fixed baseline, not against other hospitals, so unlike the score they can all improve at once.

Figure 7. 1 of its 1 infection measures ended lower than they started.

Source: CMS Care Compare, healthcare-associated infections by hospital, calendar years 2017 to 2024 (Provider Data Catalog archives; the oldest year through the Internet Archive’s copy).

Show table

Calendar year	C. diff
2017	1.119
2018	0.000
2019	0.550
2021	0.000
2022	0.000
2023	0.000
2024	0.000

Among hospitals like it

Each row is a group this hospital belongs to, drawn from every hospital in it with a payment decision. Red columns are hospitals past CMS’s line, the ones CMS cut; the short tick is the group’s middle score.

In Ohio, its score is higher than 30% of the other 113 scored there.

Figure 8. Its score is below the middle in all 7 groups it belongs to; the share cut runs from 23% (100 to 299 beds) to 32% (Rural).

Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog, HACRP FY2026 (yq43-i98g), released August 13, 2026.

Show table

Group	With a decision	Hospitals cut	Share cut	Middle score	Hospital higher than
All hospitals	2,886	718	25%	−0.0453	33%
Midwest region	683	174	25%	−0.0268	32%
Ohio	114	31	27%	0.1059	30%
Not teaching	1,563	389	25%	−0.1053	39%
100 to 299 beds	1,193	275	23%	−0.0732	34%
Nonprofit	1,830	478	26%	−0.0134	30%
Rural	619	196	32%	0.0229	34%
This hospital				−0.2748
CMS’s line				0.3792	0.3799

The nearest hospitals

The 8 closest hospitals with a Total HAC Score, in a straight line. The squares are each hospital’s measures in order: filled, above the national median; open, at or below it; hatched, assigned by CMS; blank, not scored.

Figure 9. CMS cut 1 of the 8 nearest hospitals; the closest is 24 miles away.

Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog, HACRP FY2026 (yq43-i98g), released August 13, 2026.

Show table

Hospital	Miles	Score	Decision
Grand Lake Health System, Saint Marys, OH	24	1.1901	cut
Mercy Health St Ritas Medical Center, Lima, OH	25	−0.1108	not cut
Mercer County Joint Township Community Hospital, Coldwater, OH	26	−0.3855	not cut
Lima Memorial Health System, Lima, OH	27	0.0267	not cut
Institute for Orthopaedic Surgery, Lima, OH	28	0.2595	not cut
Bluffton Regional Medical Center, Bluffton, IN	32	0.1823	not cut
Mercy Health - Defiance Hospital, Defiance, OH	32	0.1302	not cut
St Joseph Health System, LLC, Fort Wayne, IN	34	−0.8321	not cut

#	Hospital	Miles	Score	Decision	Est. cut ($, modeled)	Measures
1	Grand Lake Health SystemSaint Marys, OH	24	1.1901	1% cut	$50K	Above the national median on 3 of 3 measures
2	Mercy Health St Ritas Medical CenterLima, OH	25	−0.1108	No cut	$0	Above the national median on 3 of 6 measures
3	Mercer County Joint Township Community HospitalColdwater, OH	26	−0.3855	No cut	$0	Above the national median on 1 of 4 measures
4	Lima Memorial Health SystemLima, OH	27	0.0267	No cut	$0	Above the national median on 3 of 6 measures
5	Institute for Orthopaedic SurgeryLima, OH	28	0.2595	No cut	$0	Above the national median on 1 of 1 measures
6	Bluffton Regional Medical CenterBluffton, IN	32	0.1823	No cut	$0	Above the national median on 2 of 2 measures
7	Mercy Health - Defiance HospitalDefiance, OH	32	0.1302	No cut	$0	Above the national median on 2 of 3 measures
8	St Joseph Health System, LLCFort Wayne, IN	34	−0.8321	No cut	$0	Above the national median on 0 of 2 measures

Download all hospitals’ data (CSV) · Data dictionary · CMS’s dataset page

CMS’s footnotes on this page

13: Results cannot be calculated for this reporting period.
5: Results are not available for this reporting period.

How the program works, and how to find another hospital

A penalty reflects how CMS’s formula scored relative performance; it is not a verdict on the quality of care.

Cite this page

Paid & Penalized. Van Wert County Hospital, Van Wert, OH: Hospital-Acquired Conditions, FY2026. https://paidandpenalized.org/hacrp/hospital/360071/. Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog, HACRP FY2026 (yq43-i98g), released August 13, 2026.