LaGRANGE — West Georgia Medical Center has been named by Georgia Trend magazine as the No. 1 Large Hospital in the state for 2015.

West Georgia Medical also placed at the top of Georgia Trend’s annual hospital report in 2013. In 2014, it placed fourth behind WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, University Hospital in Augusta and Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville.

Jerry Fulks, President and CEO of West Georgia Health, said earning the top spot is a wonderful achievement, but it is the staff and employees of West Georgia Health who deserve all the recognition.

“Sometimes you say to yourself, ‘How did we accomplish this?’ And the answer is that every individual who works at our hospital comes to work every day wanting to do a good job,” Fulks said. “When it all comes together, that’s what you get.”

The rankings are determined by grouping together hospitals of similar size and mission and then by comparing data from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, which provides publicly available information at hospitalcompare.hhs.gov on more than 40 quality-related indicators, including patient experience, outcomes of care, process of care, and efficiency and value of the services rendered.

The magazine published its list of the state’s top hospitals in its December issue, including small-, medium- and large-sized hospitals as well as teaching hospitals. The Large Hospital category denoted a medical center having more than 400 beds.

The 2015 Top Hospitals Ranking includes only hospitals that participate in the CMS Value Based Purchasing Program. VA hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals do not participate in this program and are not included.