HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital has been recognized by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Vascular Surgery for 2026. The hospital, located in Panama City, received several distinctions from Healthgrades, a leading resource for consumers searching for doctors and hospitals.
Chase Christianson, CEO of HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital, commented on the recognition: “As a top-performing hospital, we are grateful for this national recognition of our team’s dedication to providing the highest quality of patient care. These achievements further affirm HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital’s expertise in multiple areas of specialty care and underscore our hospital’s longstanding commitment to our community.”
In addition to its ranking among the nation’s best hospitals for vascular surgery, HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital received the Healthgrades 2026 Vascular Surgery Excellence Award and was named among the top 10% of hospitals nationwide in this specialty. The hospital also maintained a five-star rating in carotid procedures for both 2025 and 2026.
The facility achieved a five-star status from Healthgrades for pacemaker procedures over eight consecutive years (2019-2026), defibrillator procedures over three years (2024-2026), and coronary interventional procedures over two years (2025-2026). It was also awarded the Healthgrades 2026 Surgical Care Excellence Award and ranked among the top 10% nationally for surgical care.
Additional recognitions include a six-year streak (2021-2026) with a five-star rating for hip fracture treatment, seven years (2020-2026) with a five-star rating for gallbladder removal surgery, and six years (2021-2026) with a five-star rating for diabetic hospitalization treatment.
Healthgrades bases these awards on evaluations of risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates across more than 30 common conditions and procedures at about 4,500 hospitals nationwide. These evaluations aim to help patients identify facilities that deliver strong outcomes in their needed area of care.
Alana Biggers, MD, MPH, medical advisor at Healthgrades said: “Healthgrades’ specialty awards identify the nation’s top-performing hospitals in key service areas, helping consumers find high quality care tailored to their specific needs. We’re proud to recognize HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital for its consistently superior outcomes in key service areas, including vascular surgery and several other vital areas of care.”
A recent analysis by Healthgrades indicated that if all U.S. hospitals performed at the level of five-star institutions during the period from 2022 to 2024, an estimated average of more than 230,000 lives could have been saved and nearly 157,000 complications avoided among Medicare patients during those three years. The methodology behind these findings is available through Healthgrades’ Specialty Excellence Patient Advocate Center.
