Albuquerque's medical center for veterans has the lowest score possible after losing one of its two stars between the end of 2015 and June.
The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2hcEaWO) one star is the bottom score for internal Veterans Administration quality checks.
Spokeswoman Sonja Brown said the Albuquerque hospital is working on access issues like answering phones faster and lessening wait times on mental health appointments.
The VA posted scorecards on its website after USA Today first published the agency's ranking of 146 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.
Albuquerque was in the list's bottom 10.
New Mexico VA Health Care System Director Andrew Welch has said the ranking is an incomplete picture. One hospital's improvement drops another lower on the list.
The medical center receives consistent high scores from patients.
___
Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.