Boulder County Hospital Named Among Top 50 In U.S.

BOULDER COUNTY, CO — As the coronavirus places renewed importance on our access to safe, quality health care, a new top 50 ranking by Healthgrades has recognized two hospitals in Colorado for their superior performance.

Healthgrades, an online health care information company, recently released its 2021 list of America’s Best Hospitals. The annual ranking recognizes the top 1, 2 and 5 percent of hospitals in the nation.

The Good Samaritan Medical Center, at 200 Exempla Circle in Lafayette; and the Poudre Valley Hospital, at 1024 S Lemay Avenue in Fort Collins, are the only two Colorado hospitals to make the top 50 list. Both hospitals are highly rated by patients, according to the report.

To compile the ranking, researchers looked at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid data from fiscal years 2017-19 for more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Researchers then analyzed how each performed across 32 conditions and procedures including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, respiratory failure, sepsis and stroke.

In a release announcing the 2021 list, Healthgrades said that patients treated in ranked hospitals have a 27.4 percent lower chance of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that are unranked.

This also means that if all hospitals performed similarly to Healthgrades America’s Best Hospitals, 167,235 lives could potentially have been saved, the release says.

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After identifying eligible hospitals, Healthgrades used a series of steps to compile its final rankings. Read the full methodology for the rankings.

“Now more than ever, consumers understand the importance of researching hospitals and finding the best organization to meet their health care needs,” Dr. Brad Bowman, chief medical officer of Healthgrades, said in a release. “Especially in this era of COVID-19, we commend the recipients … for their commitment to providing superior outcomes and keeping their communities safe.”

In addition to its Best Hospitals ranking, Healthgrades provides information to consumers based on patient surveys, data from government sources and data that comes directly from providers or practices.

You can see the full list of the top 50, 100 and 250 hospitals from Healthgrades on its website.