Provena Medical Center Ranks in Top 5 Percent Nationally

Editor's note: The following is from a Provena news release.

JOLIET – Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center announced today that HealthGrades, the nation’s most trusted source of health-care provider information, has named it a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence™ for the fourth consecutive year. This prestigious distinction places Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center among the Top 5% of hospitals nationwide for clinical performance.

HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study, released today, objectively identifies those hospitals with the best overall clinical performance across all 26 medical diagnoses and procedures that the organization rates. Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center is among the top 5% of the nation’s hospitals earning the designation of Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence.

“Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center can be proud of the contributions of its physicians, nurses and staff in achieving outstanding patient care,” said Dr. Rick May, HealthGrades vice president of clinical quality services and co-author of the study. “Joliet and surrounding communities are fortunate to have access to some of the highest quality hospital care in the nation.”

Unlike other quality studies, HealthGrades evaluates hospitals solely on clinical outcomes: risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complications. Its analysis is based on approximately 40 million Medicare discharges for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009.

“We are proud to add this award to our list of achievenments,” said President and CEO Jeff Brickman.  HealthGrades also ranked PSJMC in the Top 5 % in the nation in eight clinical areas including cardiac care, cardiac surgery, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, stroke, critical care, women’s and emergency services.

“Third party recognition for the excellent health care we provide is like a pat on the back for fulfilling our mission. Our patients, the high level of their care and the outcomes that allow them to continue to lead active lives, are our greatest accomplishments,” Brickman added.

In order to continue to address community need and provide the highest quality health care in the area, in 2010, PSJMC opened a Children’s Emergency Department, the only ED “Just for Kids” in Will and the tri-county area. Provena Medical Group offices were updated and renovated. New technologies added include a 3Tesla MRI and an O-Arm intraoperative system.

The Joint Commission recertified PSJMC as a Primary Stroke Center.  Cardiology received the Gold Performance Award at the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and an Accreditation Award with Three-year Commendation was granted by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer

PSJMC experienced a 4.5% increase in transfers from area hospitals in 2010 seeking PSJMC’s advanced medical offerings for complex cases such as 24/7 Neuroendovascular and Neurosurgery.

The HealthGrades study found that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence outperformed all other hospitals across all of the 17 mortality cohorts and six of nine complication cohorts studied from 2007 through 2009. In fact, if all hospitals performed at this level, 158,684 Medicare lives could potentially have been saved and 3,511 Medicare in-hospital complications could potentially have been avoided.