Hundreds of hospitals across the country are being recognized for keeping patients safe, and a handful of states stand out for having the highest number of top performers.

Healthgrades, a platform for finding doctors, health care providers, and hospitals, released its 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Awards this month, naming 438 hospitals in 40 states that rank among the top 10% nationwide for patient safety.

The analysis highlights centers that excel at preventing serious, avoidable complications during hospital stays based on 13 patient safety indicators.

Among all states, five had the highest number of hospitals earning the distinction: Texas, Florida, California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

These states led the nation in total award recipients, with counts ranging from 21 to as many as 62 hospitals, according to Healthgrades data cited by MedPage Today. The concentration of high-performing hospitals in these states may be partly driven by size, the outlet noted.

“The prevalence of recipients in a particular state could be related to something as simple as that state having a large number of hospitals,” a Healthgrades spokesperson told MedPage Today.

Nonetheless, the findings point to strong safety performance across several of the nation’s most populated regions, particularly major metro areas such as Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, and New York City.

Patients treated at these hospitals saw significantly lower risks for some of the most common and serious safety events that account for the majority of in-hospital complications, according to a news release.

Compared to other hospitals, patients at award-winning facilities were 52.4% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in fracture; 57.5% less likely to suffer a collapsed lung related to procedures; 67.8% less likely to develop catheter-related bloodstream infections; and 71.9% less likely to develop pressure sores.

Those four indicators alone make up about 78% of all patient safety events, according to Healthgrades, and if all hospitals performed at the same level as this year’s recipients, more than 100,000 patient safety events could have been avoided between 2022 and 2024.