Rating Based on Study of Patient Outcomes at the Nation's Hospitals by HealthGrades

SUFFERN, N.Y., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Bon Secours Charity Health System (BSCHS) announces that its Good Samaritan Hospital, in Suffern, N.Y., was ranked by HealthGrades®, the leading healthcare ratings company, as the top-rated hospital in the New York City-White Plains, N.Y.-Wayne, N.J. region for cardiac surgery quality.

Additionally, Good Samaritan Hospital received a 5-Star rating for the quality of its cardiac surgery care from HealthGrades. This is the second year in a row Good Samaritan Hospital received this designation, and is ranked by HealthGrades in its 2010 study among the top five percent of all hospitals nationally for cardiac surgery quality. These recognitions are based on HealthGrades' 12th annual Hospital Quality in America study, which analyzes patient outcomes at virtually all of the nation's hospitals.

In support of these high rankings, Good Samaritan Hospital has achieved the following specific ratings from HealthGrades:

• Five-Star Rated for Cardiac Surgery
• Five-Star Rated for Coronary Bypass Surgery (for the second year in a row)
• Five-Star Rated for Valve Replacement Surgery
• Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Heart Failure
  

When the Active International Cardiovascular Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital opened its doors in January 2007, it was after a lengthy battle to earn the right to serve the Lower Hudson Valley community with a state-of-the-art cardiac center. To overcome opposition from regional hospitals, the entire Rockland County and Orange County healthcare community rallied - through personal appeals to state decisionmakers, a chartered bus caravan to Albany, and patient outreach to regulators.

"Good Samaritan Hospital was able to prove - without any doubt - that a top-tier cardiac center was needed in the region," said Philip Patterson, CEO of BSCHS. "But, even after the need was proven, Good Samaritan Hospital had to prove that it could attract the top-notch surgeons and medical professionals that would be needed to build a world-class cardiac surgery center. Now, to find a higher-rated hospital for cardiac surgery, you would actually have to drive to Syracuse, N.Y."

"This honor for Good Samaritan Hospital gives everyone within the BSCHS community tremendous pride and feelings of accomplishment about the exceptional level of patient care we are providing," said Chief of Cardiac Surgery Edward Lundy, M.D., Ph.D. "We are continually placed on the leading edge of successful patient outcomes and that is due to our endless focus on the patient and their well-being."

The HealthGrades study, the largest annual report of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes in nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records from 5,000 hospitals over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. This year's study found:

• Across all 17 procedures and diagnoses in which mortality was studied, there was an approximate 72 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital, and a 52 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star hospital compared with the national average.
• If all hospitals performed at the level of a 5-star rated hospital across the 17 procedures and diagnoses studied, 224,537 Medicare lives could potentially have been saved from 2006 through 2008.
  

HealthGrades Ratings

HealthGrades' hospital ratings and awards reflect the track record of patient outcomes at hospitals in the form of mortality and complication rates. HealthGrades rates hospitals independently based on data that hospitals submit to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.

For 28 procedures and treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital's mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for apples-to-apples comparisons.

More information on the 2010 HealthGrades study, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com.

About Bon Secours Charity Health System

Bon Secours Charity Health System serves over half a million people in communities within New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and is comprised of three acute care hospitals located in the Hudson-Delaware Valley of New York: St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick, Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis and Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, as well as Good Samaritan Home Care, two long-term care facilities, an assisted living and adult home facility and several other medical programs. The Bon Secours Charity Health System provides the region's only open heart surgery program; Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; advanced cancer, stroke and vascular therapies; and the widest array of health and wellness programs in the region. It has been recognized nationally for superior patient outcomes, patient satisfaction and as the place to practice for physicians throughout the area. For further information visit our Web site at: www.bschs.org.

SOURCE Bon Secours Charity Health System

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