CHOMP named a top hospital in the country for patient experience based on surveys.

Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula announced on May 18 that it's the recipient of the 2026 Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades, a national health care comparison database.

CHOMP continues to score well with Healthgrades, which in January named the hospital among "America's 250 Best Hospitals," placing it in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationally for consistent clinical quality.

“Being named among the top hospitals in the nation for both patient experience and clinical quality is a reflection of our people who make Community Hospital what it is,” said Dr. Mike McDermott, president and CEO of Montage Health, CHOMP's parent company, in a statement.

“These recognitions affirm the work our teams do every day to ensure that the people of Monterey County receive exceptional, compassionate care close to home," McDermott said.

The patient experience award came out of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, comparing patient survey results from nearly 4,000 hospitals. Patients were surveyed across 10 experience measures, including staff communication, medication explanations and cleanliness.

Similarly, CHOMP was recently received a five-star patient review rating from  Becker's Hospital Review based on the HCAHPS data.

Although CHOMP is scoring highly on data regarding outcomes and patient surveys, it has received two "C" grades in a row from independent nonprofit The Leapfrog Group.

The Leapfrog scores are based on an analysis of preventable errors, injuries and safety protocols. The most recent C grade for CHOMP, taken from data collected between 2022 and 2024, it showed lower scores in communication about medicines and infection case numbers. There were some improvements from the previous C grade last fall.

"While our underlying safety performance score has improved since the previous reporting period, we still have more work to do and we take that responsibility very seriously," a spokesperson told the Weekly.