SALISBURY – TidalHealth announced today that it has achieved numerous accolades for clinical excellence from Healthgrades, the #1 site Americans use when searching for a doctor or hospital. Healthgrades 2025 Star Report of hospital achievements shows TidalHealth is rated among the nation’s best health systems in several clinical services.
Among them, and new in the 2025 Star Report, is TidalHealth Peninsula Regional’s orthopedic surgery program being rated third best among all Maryland hospitals. The Salisbury institution is the only hospital ranked by Healthgrades on the Eastern Shore for orthopedic surgery.
The orthopedic service line was also awarded the 2025 Healthgrades Spine Surgery Excellence Award, placing it Top 10% in the Nation for Spine Surgery, both are new awards in 2025. It retains from last year its designation as One of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery (2024-2025).
Orthopedics also earned a 5-Star ranking—Healthgrades highest rating—for back surgery and outpatient total knee replacement. Those are also new awards for TidalHealth in the 2025 report.
TidalHealth Peninsula Regional is also again One of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Vascular Surgery. This is the eleventh consecutive year earning that recognition (2015-2025). The vascular team also maintains the Healthgrades Vascular Surgery Excellence Award for an eleventh consecutive year (2015-2025), placing it, this year, among the Top 5% in the Nation for Vascular Surgery.
TidalHealth Peninsula Regional was also the only hospital in the state to earn a 50 BEST Hospitals for Vascular Surgery designation, for a second consecutive year, and the only Maryland hospital 5-Star rated for the Treatment of Abdominal Aorta.
At TidalHealth Nanticoke, the team retained, for a third year, a 5-Start ranking for the Treatment of Sepsis (2023-2025) and 5-Stars for a second consecutive year for The Treatment of Respiratory Failure (2024-2025).
Earlier this year, TidalHealth Nanticoke was also presented a 5-Star Ranking by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Seaford hospital was the only hospital in Delaware to be awarded the prestigious 5-Stars from CMS, the organizations gold standard rating for care and outcomes.
“We are deeply honored to receive these prestigious Healthgrades awards, which reflect the unwavering commitment of our dedicated staff to delivering exceptional care to our patients. This recognition serves as a testament to our team’s expertise, compassion, and relentless pursuit of excellence,” said Steve Leonard, Ph.D., MBA, FACHE, TidalHealth President/CEO. “We will continue striving to exceed the expectations of our communities in Maryland and Delaware, providing the highest standard of care, and ensuring every patient who walks through our doors receives the best possible outcomes.”
As variation in performance among hospitals continues to grow, it is increasingly important for consumers to seek care at top-rated programs. Healthgrades’ 2025 analysis revealed that if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to five-star hospitals like TidalHealth during the 2021-2023 study period, on average, 224,958 lives could potentially have been saved and 141,692 complications could potentially have been avoided.
TidalHealth’s achievements are based solely on what matters most: patient outcomes.
Healthgrades evaluated risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for over 30 of the most common conditions and procedures at approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide to determine the top performers in specialty care. Hospitals can neither opt in or out of a Healthgrades survey.
By offering easy access to objective performance measures, Healthgrades helps consumers find and select a hospital that excels in providing the care they need. “TidalHealth’s greatest asset is our team members, medical staff, and volunteers. Our Healthgrades clinical successes, many that have repeated for several years, are a direct result of their devotion to every patient and family member,” added Dr. Leonard.
A total of 11 services at TidalHealth earned a Healthgrades 5-Star rating, which indicates they are performing statistically significantly better than their peer services at other U.S. hospitals. Among those, Treatment of Carotid Procedures was 5-Star rated for a 15th consecutive year (2011-2025), the Treatment of Hip Fracture for a 10th consecutive year (2016-2025), and the Repair of Abdominal Aorta for a 9th straight year (2017-2025).
“Healthgrades commends TidalHealth for their clear commitment to delivering consistently superior patient outcomes in numerous critical service areas,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Data Science at Healthgrades. “TidalHealth’s leadership, expertise, and unwavering dedication to clinical excellence set a high mark for specialty care on the Delmarva Peninsula and nationwide.”
Consumers can visit healthgrades.com to learn more about how it measures hospital quality, and they see a patient-friendly overview of the complete methodology.
Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2021 through 2023 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
