Providers

North Memorial Medical Center Named One of America’s 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades

Mar 20, 2012 8:20am

North Memorial Medical Center is the only hospital in Minnesota designated with this honor – study ranks North Memorial in the top 5 percent in the nation for clinical quality for seven years in a row

ROBBINSDALE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- North Memorial Health Care announced today that its superior clinical quality has placed North Memorial Medical Center among an elite group of U.S. hospitals: HealthGrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals. To be recognized with this distinction, these hospitals had risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates low enough to place them in the top 5 percent of all hospitals nationwide. These are the hospitals that have received the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ (DHA-CE) for the most consecutive years. North Memorial received the honor of being in the top 5 percent in the nation for seven consecutive years. On average, patients treated at America’s 50 Best Hospitals had nearly a 30 percent lower risk of death.

“We are extremely proud of being one of the top 50 hospitals in the nation and the only hospital in Minnesota to be recognized. We completely acknowledge that this achievement is a result of the innovative and dedicated employees and physicians who provide care at North Memorial Medical Center. North Memorial has been recognized for seven years in a row. This doesn’t happen without an exceptional and consistent commitment to teamwork, quality and safe care of our patients by all of our nurses, physicians, allied professionals, leadership and staff at North Memorial,” said Andy Cochrane, President of Hospital Operations and CEO of the Maple Grove Hospital. “North Memorial strives daily to deliver innovative and advanced medical care. It’s what we are known for. We are also proud that in 2012 North Memorial was additionally ranked number one in Minnesota for our Treatment of Stroke, Gastrointestinal Medical Treatment and named Best in the Region* for Overall Cardiac Services,” says Cochrane.

HealthGrades® found that if all U.S. hospitals had performed at the level of North Memorial, more than a half million Medicare deaths could have been prevented between 2000 and 2010. This finding was based on an analysis of more than 150 million Medicare patient records.

“As our nation seeks to elevate the quality of care at all hospitals, these elite facilities provide a roadmap for success,” said Dr. Arshad Rahim, HealthGrades Director of Accelerated Clinical Excellence. “Consumers increasingly are demanding greater transparency and quality when selecting healthcare providers. These hospitals are delivering. We commend them for their dedication to excellence in patient care.”

North Memorial is nationally recognized for best practices:

  • North Memorial’s Stroke Center was ranked number one in Minnesota for the Treatment of Stroke™ in 2012 by HealthGrades
  • Ranked number one in Minnesota for Gastrointestinal Medical Treatment™ in 2012 by HealthGrades
  • North Memorial was named Best in the Region* for Overall Cardiac Services™ in 2012 by HealthGrades
  • Named “Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence” seven years in a row by HealthGrades
  • North Memorial Breast Center is designated an “ACR Breast Imaging Center of Excellence”
  • Medical Intensive Care Unit is a Gold-Level Beacon Award Winner (given by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses)
  • Stroke Center recognized by AHA for Quality Patient Care and Outcomes
  • Stroke Center re-certified by Joint Commission as a “Gold Seal Approved” Primary Stroke Center
  • North Memorial’s “door-to-balloon” time (quickly opening blocked arteries in the event of a heart attack) is ranked in the top 5 percent nationally
  • Level I Trauma Center – 100 percent of physicians surveyed indicated they would refer another trauma patient to North Memorial
  • Emergency room is staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians
  • First totally integrated hospital-based medical transportation system in Minnesota
  • Intensive Aphasia Program is the only speech program of its kind in the region and is helping to provide better outcomes than traditional speech therapy for patients who suffer a stroke
  • Cardiovascular Surgical Intensive Care Unit is participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality initiative, Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB)
  • North Memorial partners with BOOST a program focused on ensuring patients make follow-up appointments with their primary care doctor within seven days of discharge (In June 2011, 100 percent of congestive heart failure patients from North Memorial made their follow-up appointments within the seven day time frame.)

HealthGrades compared the performance of America’s 50 Best Hospitals like North Memorial to all others and found:

  • Collectively, during 2008 through 2010, these top hospitals had nearly a 30 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality across 17 procedures and diagnoses.
  • From 2008 through 2010, if all hospitals performed at the level of America’s Best Hospitals, 179,593 Medicare deaths may have been prevented.
  • Complete procedure-by-procedure comparisons of the HealthGrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals and all others can be found at HealthGrades.com. A comprehensive methodology for this award and all HealthGrades hospital ratings and rankings is also available online.

About North Memorial
North Memorial, based in Robbinsdale, Minn., provides innovative and advanced medical care to patients in the Twin Cities, greater Minnesota and western Wisconsin. North Memorial has provided health care services in the metro area for more than 50 years and includes North Memorial Medical Center – a Level I Trauma Center, Maple Grove Hospital, a partnership between North Memorial Health Care and Fairview, Hubert H. Humphrey Cancer Center, as well as a network of 35 primary and specialty care clinics. North Memorial also operates one of the largest hospital-based ambulance services in the country with eight helicopters and over 100 ground ambulances. For more information, please visit northmemorial.com.

About HealthGrades
HealthGrades, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a leading provider of comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. More than 200 million consumers use the HealthGrades websites, including HealthGrades.com and BetterMedicine.com, to research, select, and connect with a physician or hospital, and use its comprehensive information about clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, patient safety, and health conditions to make more informed healthcare decisions and take action.

More information on how HealthGrades guides Americans to their best health can be found at www.healthgrades.com.

*Region is Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI as defined by the federal government’s Office of Mgmt and Budget

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CONTACT:

North Memorial Corporate Communications and Public Relations
Mark Vukelich, 763-520-5062

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