HealthGrades names Good Samaritan Hospital as One of America’s 50 Best Hospitals in 2010

Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles is named as One of America’s 50 Best Hospitals in 2010 by HealthGrades, Inc., the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings organization. Good Samaritan Hospital has received this distinction for four consecutive years. Good Samaritan is the only hospital in Los Angeles to receive this designation from HealthGrades every year since it began recognizing America’s 50 Best Hospitals in 2007.

“To be ranked among America’s 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades for four consecutive years is a great honor and tribute to our physicians and staff who deliver wonderful care to our patients year after year”

The report, which analyzes objective patient outcomes at all 5,000 of the nation’s nonfederal hospitals, places Good Samaritan in the top 1 percent of all hospitals in the nation. Good Samaritan was also recently named a HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence™ for the eighth consecutive year, a distinction reserved for the top 5 percent of all hospitals in the nation.

“To be ranked among America’s 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades for four consecutive years is a great honor and tribute to our physicians and staff who deliver wonderful care to our patients year after year,” said Andrew B. Leeka, president and CEO of Good Samaritan Hospital. “This unwavering commitment to quality can be found in every aspect of our organization. This recognition challenges us to continue that commitment and assure that everyone in our community has access to the best possible care.”

According to the report, hospitals including Good Samaritan Hospital that received America’s 50 Best Hospital distinctions were found to have an approximate 27 percent lower mortality rate than all other U.S. hospitals and a complication rate that was eight percent lower. If all hospitals operated at the same level as the 50 Best, 164,964 deaths and 18,900 inhospital complications could have potentially been prevented.

Good Samaritan Hospital ranked among the top hospitals in the nation and has been recognized in several specialty areas in 2010 including:

• Cardiac
  • Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Heart Failure - 8 years in a row
• Orthopedics
  • Recipient of the HealthGrades Joint Replacement Excellence Award™ - 3 years in a row
  • Ranked Among the Top 10 % in the Nation for Joint Replacement – 3 years in a row
  • Five-Star Rated for Overall Orthopedic Services
  • Five-Star Rated for Joint Replacement – 3 years in a row
  • Five-Star Rated for Total Knee Replacement – 4 years in a row
  • Five-Star Rated for Total Hip Replacement – 3 years in a row
  • Five-Star Rated for Spine Surgery
  • Five-Star Rated for Back and Neck Surgery (Spinal Fusion)

• Critical Care
  • Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Sepsis - 5 years in a row
  • Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Respiratory Failure - 3 years in a row
  • Received the Highest Possible Star Ratings for Treatment of Sepsis - 5 years in a row

• Pulmonary
  • Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Pneumonia - 8 years in a row
• Stroke
  • Recipient of the HealthGrades Stroke Care Excellence Award™ - 6 years in a row
  • Ranked Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Treatment of Stroke - 4 years in a row
  • Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Stroke - 8 years in a row
  • Received the Highest Possible Star Ratings for Treatment of Stroke - 4 years in a row

• Gastrointestinal Services
  • Five-Star Rated for Treatment of GI Bleed – 5 years in a row
• General Surgery
  • Five-Star Rated for Appendectomy
• Maternity Care
  • Recipient of the HealthGrades Maternity Care Excellence Award™ - 3 years in a row
  • Five-Star Rated for Maternity Care – 3 years in a row
  • Ranked Among the Top 5 Percent in the Nation for Maternity Care – 2 years in a row

• Women’s Health Services
  • Recipient of the HealthGrades Women’s Health Excellence Award™ - 3 years in a row
  • Five-Star Rated for Women’s Health – 5 years in a row
  • Ranked Among the Top 5 Percent in the Nation for Women’s Health

To identify America’s 50 Best Hospitals, HealthGrades analyzed more than 130 million Medicare hospitalization records from every non-federal hospital in the nation. Hospitals must meet minimum thresholds in terms of patient volumes, quality ratings, and the range of services provided. Specifically, hospitals were evaluated based on the risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates across 26 procedures and treatments, from hip replacement to bypass surgery. Hospitals that were in the top 5 percent of all hospitals for the most consecutive years were named HealthGrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals.