Posted on 02/25/2008 9:20:51 AM PST by Cagey
Study Looks At Death Rates Over Several Years
A group that studied approximately 100 million cases from 5,000 hospitals has named the 50 best hospitals in the U.S.
HealthGrades.com said that the hospitals in the top 1 percent had a death rate 27 percent lower on average than the national average.
For the rankings, the group looks at clinical results for 27 procedures and conditions. To be named on of the 50 best, the hospitals had to have elite scores every year of the study. Also, they do not ask to be included.
The list includes nationally known names such as Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles and the Mayo Clinic, but also has many lesser-known facilities.
Mortality rates at the hospitals were adjusted for risk of death for the patients.
Here's the List (in alphabetical order)
Akron General Medical Center, Akron, Ohio
Alexian Brothers Medical Center, Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Baptist Hospital East, Louisville, Ky.
Bay Medical Center, Panama City, Fla.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
Centura Health–Penrose St. Francis Health Services, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Christ Hospital, Cincinnati
CJW Medical Center–Chippenham Campus, Richmond, Va.
Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland
Community Hospital, Munster, Ind.
Deaconess Hospital, Cincinnati
Delray Medical Center, Delray Beach, Fla.
Easton Hospital, Easton, Pa.
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, Ill.
Fairview Hospital, Cleveland
Genesys Regional Medical Center, Grand Blanc, Mich.
Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center, Glendale, Calif.
Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, Calif.
Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, N.J.
Hamot Medical Center, Erie, Pa.
Henrico Doctors' Hospital, Richmond, Va.
Hillcrest Hospital, Mayfield Heights, Ohio
Holmes Regional Medical Center, Melbourne, Fla.
Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Va.
Jewish Hospital, Louisville, Ky.
Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster, Pa.
Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute, Fort Pierce, Fla.
Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pa.
Main Line Hospitals–Lankenau, Wynnewood, Pa.
Mayo Clinic Hospital, Phoenix
Memorial Healthcare System, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Mercy Hospital Scranton, Scranton, Pa.
Mission Hospitals, Asheville, N.C.
Munroe Regional Medical Center, Ocala, Fla.
Munson Medical Center, Traverse City, Mich.
Ocala Regional Medical Center, Ocala, Fla.
Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Rio Grande Regional Hospital, McAllen, Texas
Rush North Shore Medical Center, Skokie, Ill.
Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, Atlanta
Sarasota Memorial Hospital Sarasota FL
Southwest General Health Center, Middleburg Heights, Ohio
St. Elizabeth Medical Center–South, Edgewood, Ky.
St. Johns Hospital Health Center, Santa Monica, Calif.
St. Luke's Hospital, Chesterfield, Mo.
St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, Pa.
St. Marys Hospital, Rochester, Minn.
Summa Health Systems Hospitals, Akron, Ohio
William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich.
How many of those are government hospitals?
Is it not common knowledge that some hospitals turn away challenging cases in order to keep their success #’s up? If so, I would think stories such as this might contribute to further warping the treatment process, and some of the better hospitals might have the lesser #’s.
Metrics are generally good things, but can be both counterintuitive and counterproductive.
in spite of the huge amount of local and state ny boosterism about its great hospitals, as a long time resident of ny/nj area it does NOT surprise me that none of their hospitals made the grade
a visit to a vetinary hosp here in nj not long ago, made me see it’s levels of cleanliness, organization, care and comprehensive consideration of everything - medical, patient and customer related - beyond what i had ever found in any hospital here for the care of people
now, consider this
90% of care for pets is without insurance - the customer pays, directly, usually by credit card
What did surprise me about the list is the amount of hospitals in Florida although Florida may have more hospitals per capita than most states because of the aging population. I’d like to see some more statistics.
Hackensack made the list.
“How many of those are government hospitals?”
Another relevant question: how many are teaching hospitals?
Our local hospital is on the list but when the docs there hit a wall in treating my son, they recommended we send him to one of two teaching hospitals in the area. He went to Johns Hopkins which is generally listed as a #1 hospital but isn’t on this list.
And the Texas Medical Center in Houston didn’t.
“Best hospitals”? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
seven of those hospitals are in Florida, where the population is more elderly than other states. Seems strange that they’re not dying faster than patients in Washington, for instance, where great medical care is touted as a reason to live there.
My oldest child was born at Bay Medical Center. The care with which he was handled at birth is the best I have seen for my kids. Both of my California-born children were born at hospitals where the overworked staff seemed only too eager to drop the child off at the mother's room as soon as possible, giving the mother very little chance to rest and recover her strength. This was due to having understaffed or nonexistent nurseries. At Bay, they actually had a functioning nursery, and the nursery staff would deliver and pickup the baby at the mother's convenience.
This is where my dad has gone for his three strokes. He gives it mixed reviews.
Robert Wood Johnson, in New Brunswick and Hamilton, is preferable to Princeton Hospital.
St. Mary’s in Rochester, MN is the hospital for the original Mayo Clinic in Rochester. It is a teaching hospital. I have had family members there for various things, and while it is good, sometimes there is a lack of coninuity in care because of the teaching aspect.
They are unwilling to place a cap on malpractice awards there so all the risky stuff has moved out of state.
My understanding is that more babies are born to Illinois mothers in Indiana than in Illinois, with no deliveries whatsoever taking place in Southern Illinois for many years.
There's a vast hospital complex built up in Gary, Indiana that serves the surgical needs of the population of the Chicago metropolitan area ~ which has about 20 times the population of Gary. Those of you who get WGN on cable TV ought to listen to all the references to the Gary Hospital every day and never a reference to any Chicago hospital.
Ohio also exports its riskier cases to nearby Indiana.
I'd suggest the "50 best" is really about "you ain't gettin' in here".
oh, there’s absolutely NO continuity in teaching hospitals, especially if you’re admitted for any length of time... but one thing you know at the better teaching hospitals is the head of the teaching team is the best and has chosen the best applicants to work there. One of my friend’s husband is chmn of a dept at a local teaching hospital and gets about 700-1000 applicants per residency spot available.
I didn't know Joe had a hospital named after him.
“Hackensack made the list.”
mea culpa, i missed it
what stood out was the absence of the majors in nyc
This list is crap. Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga is one of the best. Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville is one of the best, too. They have a world renkowned Childrens Hospital and Burn unit. When 9/11 happened, I was there and some of the burn victims from 9/11 were sent there.
INOVA Fairfax? I find that hard to believe.
Aren't you glad to know that you should go to Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen, Texas, for brain surgery or cancer treatment instead of the Medical Center. This list is a joke!
Money buys stuff ~ always did ~ always will ~ does now!
Because when they closed DC General, FFX became the 1st level trama center for the City of DC.
You can literally die in the ER waiting room.
When I broke my leg a couple of weeks ago, I went to Arlington hospitol.
No way I was going to FFX.
You don't have to go to the big one.
On the other hand, it was pretty crowded BEFORE they closed DC General ~ You do know that Fairfax is the largest municipality in the entire WarshDC SMSA, right? And if we followed the rules it would be called the Fairfax County SMSA. It's got maybe 3 times the population of DC in fact.
Yes, I do know - and Arlington is an INOVA facility.
I just avoid FFX, when I can.
Besides, Arlington has a coffee cup with my name on it in the ER.
;)
Not to mention Boston and Baltimore.
Ping
The other side of the mask.
i agree, it is strange that Johns Hopkins was not listed. i just today spoke to a friend recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and he thoroughly researched it and found Hopkins was among the best, so that’s where he is going for his surgery.
How many of these Hospital’s pay for the health care of Illegal aliens.
Those that do won’t be around for long.If they manage to survive their quality will deteriorate.It will have to.
um there was a sexual assault in Arlington hosp in early Jan when i was in there, perpetrated by a male NURSE. we are just generally medically screwed, here.
I never heard that - sad. Frightening.
leda was born at Arlington, and grandpa died there, and I got lost in the morge, once, when I was a kid - I was delivering phone books with gramps to a specific office, located in some basement - must have made a wrong turn.
the nursing staff is overwhelmingly FOREIGN now. there were student nurses there, wanting to “help”. they were all from Africa, every last one. i asked where they were in nursing school, figuring ok, it’s probably a university program somewhere. No. they were studying to be LPNs at that appalling little Doctors Hospital or whatever it is called now, on Carlin Springs road between Rtes 50 and 7. The sexual assault perpetrator was an African male. The quality of nursing care at Arlington between 2006 and early this year has declined rather dramatically.
Uh, maybe; but I’ve known of more screw ups than successes at the Medical Center; the truth isn’t easy to divine in these matters, the Medical Cabal hides it’s Easter Eggs.
You may be correct as to the wards - that was not my experience in the ER.
I was seen initially by a PA, of the former Army medic sort, then by a DR, who scolded the PA for missing a point on the treatment order, then xrayed and splinted by some very competent people.
But I have not seen one of their wards since Grandpa died.
I have no idea what they are like now.
Remeber, this is ONLY a study about “death rates”, specifically as an earlier poster pointed out can be deceptive. General stats can be deceptive, but it’s almost worse when you’re talking about a specific simple yardstick.
Dang.
But they are usually up to date. Plain old hospitals - especially far from centers of great medical care - are usually closer to “backward”. That is why teaching hospitals are touted as preferred.
Your friend chose wisely. Will add him to my prayer list. I know the treatment my son got there ultimately saved his life. All the credit in the world goes to the local docs who told us they’d done all they could and recommended we go further for his treatments. I am eternally grateful to the docs here and at Hopkins.
The down side of Hopkins is the neighborhood. You literally can’t leave the grounds without a guard accompanying you!
Again, this list is strictly “death rate”, which in itself could mean anything.
thanks so much for the prayers. his PSA was not even elevated, luckily his doctor noted the % increase in PSA #s was suspicious and so had him do further testing.it was detected very early, but still, scary to have the C word associated with you.
oh and he’s only 55 years old.
and i can understand why you would speak glowingly of the place, given your experience. Thank God that they were able to help your son!
the physicians there are top notch, it is the nursing staff on the wards that was problematic.
your friend is very fortunate the doc noticed the discrepancy .. early detection (esp at 55 when docs aren’t looking so much) is critical. He should remain optimistic.
he said he remembers nothing from his meeting with the doc other than the guy saying 3 separate times, “you are not going to die.” it is stage one. treatment is to remove the prostate altogether. my friend urged me to tell as many guys as possible, especially my husband who is a bit younger than he is, about his situation, to have their docs check the % increase not just overall PSA #s.
I guess I’d be interested in knowing which hospitals were the NEXT 50 (probably the ones with a better balance of admitting and dealing with “difficult” patients).
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