Elmbrook Memorial has received the HealthGrades 2010 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence
Recognized for Outstanding Clinical Performance by HealthGrades,
the Leading Independent Healthcare Ratings Organization
BROOKFIELD, WI (March 11, 2010) – Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – Elmbrook Memorial announced today that a comprehensive study ranks its clinical quality among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation.
The national study by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, analyzed patient outcomes at each of the nation’s 5,000 nonfederal hospitals over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 and named hospitals in the top five percent as HealthGrades Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence™.
“To earn the highly respected Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence honor from HealthGrades exemplifies the compassion and excellence in healthcare services provided to our community by our esteemed physicians and staff. To be ranked among the Top Five Percent in the nation places Elmbrook Memorial among the top hospitals in the United States for quality clinical care,” said Debra Standridge, President of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – Elmbrook Memorial. “This is an honor that we are all truly proud of and thank our Medical Staff and associates for their continued commitment to our great hospital. Elmbrook Memorial is truly dedicated to provide patients with an exceptional and compassionate patient experience they expect at our hospital.”
Elmbrook Memorial also received several other HealthGrades distinctions for 2010, including:
- Ranked Best in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Region for Overall Orthopedics and Joint Replacement Surgery
- Five-Star Rated for Joint Replacement Surgery
- Five-Star Rated for Spinal Fusion Surgery
- Recipient of the 2010 HealthGrades General Surgery Excellence Award™
- Ranked Among the Top 5% in the Nation for General Surgery
- Ranked Best in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Region, for General Surgery
- Five-Star Rated for Overall General Surgery
- Ranked #1 in Wisconsin for Overall Gastrointestinal Care and GI Surgery
- Ranked Among the Top 5% in the Nation for GI Care and GI Surgery
- Recipient of the 2010 HealthGrades GI Care and GI Surgery Excellence Awards
- Five-Star Rated for GI Surgery and Procedures
- Five-Star Rated for Overall Pulmonary Services
- Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Stroke
According to the eighth annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study, Elmbrook Memorial and the other hospitals in the top five percent nationally demonstrated patient outcomes that far exceeded those of other hospitals. Patients admitted to these hospitals had risk-adjusted mortality rates that were, on average, 29 percent lower than all other hospitals. Risk-adjusted complication rates were, on average, nine percent lower than all other hospitals.
Elmbrook Memorial is one of only 269 hospitals in the nation that received this distinction from HealthGrades for 2010, and one of only four hospitals throughout the state of Wisconsin.
“Our data show that only a select few hospitals achieve high-quality patient outcomes not just in a few categories of care, but across the board and over time,” said Rick May, MD, a vice president with HealthGrades and an author of the study. “Patients in communities with a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence should feel proud of the hospital’s accomplishments, and confident that the level of care there is among the very best in the nation.”
The study states: “Patients who choose to receive their care at a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence certainly will have a lower risk for an adverse clinical outcome relative to all other hospitals.”
As a group, Elmbrook Memorial and those identified as being in the top five percent in the nation improved their mortality rates at a faster pace than all other hospitals. Over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, the HealthGrades study found that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence lowered their risk-adjusted mortality rates over the three years by an average of 14 percent, compared with a ten percent average improvement of all other hospitals.
Methodology
This is the eighth year that HealthGrades has independently analyzed the clinical quality performance of all non-federal hospitals across the country in 26 procedures and diagnoses. In the study, the company reviewed approximately 40 million hospitalization records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. All hospitals that participate in the Medicare program were part of the independent study. Hospitals that receive the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence are those hospitals that rank in the top five percent when all 26 individual scores are aggregated into an overall score.
ABOUT WHEATON FRANCISCAN HEALTHCARE in Wisconsin
Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare (WFH) is a Catholic, not-for-profit organization with more than 100 health and shelter organizations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, and Illinois. Started by the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters more than 125 years ago and formally incorporated in 1983, WFH has corporate services offices in Wheaton, Illinois and Glendale, Wisconsin.
In Southeast Wisconsin, WFH is co-sponsored by the Wheaton Franciscan and Felician Sisters and has nearly 11,000 associates, making it the second largest private employer in the area. Hospitals include All Saints in Racine County; Wheaton Franciscan - St. Joseph and The Wisconsin Heart Hospital Campuses, St. Francis, Franklin Hospital, and Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Milwaukee County; and Elmbrook Memorial in Waukesha County. The region also includes Wheaton Franciscan Medical Group with more than 350 physicians in more than 50 locations, a network of outpatient centers, three transitional and extended care facilities, Home Health, and Hospice.
Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare is also affiliated with Affinity Healthcare in the Fox Valley and United Hospital System in Kenosha.
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Editor’s note: A full copy of the study is available at http://www.healthgrades.com or by contacting Scott Shapiro at sshapiro@healthgrades.com.