Charlotte’s safest hospitals ranked for 2026. Here’s what to know

A national watchdog has released its latest hospital safety grades, and several Charlotte-area facilities earned top marks. North Carolina remains among the top 10 safest states for healthcare, though it slipped slightly in the rankings.

FULL STORY: These are the best hospitals in Charlotte, report says. See the full 2026 list

Here are key takeaways:

• The Leapfrog Group released its Spring 2026 Hospital Safety Grades, assigning letter grades from A to F based on 32 safety measures drawn from public sources, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
• A Florida judge recently ordered Leapfrog to scrub poor patient safety grades for several Florida hospitals, calling the methodology misleading and “punitive” for healthcare systems that choose not to participate.
• North Carolina tied for 8th nationally with Maryland, dropping from 5th place in Leapfrog’s November report. Connecticut now ranks as the safest state, followed by Utah and South Carolina.
• Three Charlotte-area hospitals earned “Straight A” status for receiving A grades in five or more grading rounds. Atrium Health Union and Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center, both “Straight A” hospitals in 2025, dropped to B grades in 2026.
• Piedmont Medical Center was not assigned a grade because it did not participate in the 2024 or 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
• Leapfrog evaluates hospitals on prevention of medical errors, illnesses, injuries and infections, and recommends consumers use the grades when researching hospitals at hospitalsafetygrade.org.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.

Eva Flowe

The Charlotte Observer

Eva Flowe is a North Carolina native and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. She joined the Charlotte Observer as part of the NC service journalism team in April 2026.