DELRAY BEACH, FL (January 9, 2006) – Delray Medical Center has received HealthGrades 2006 Cardiac, Pulmonary and Gastrointestinal (GI) Care Excellence Awards, according to information released today by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading provider of independent hospital ratings.
In qualifying for these awards, Delray Medical Center ranked among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation for cardiac, pulmonary and GI care. The hospital is also ranked #1 in Florida for heart surgery, and five-star rated for overall cardiac and pulmonary services. This recognition is based on HealthGrades annual analysis of more than 37 million Medicare patient discharges at nearly every hospital in the nation.
Delray Medical Center has also received the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence in four consecutive years, ranking the hospital among the top five percent nationally for overall clinical outcomes.
“It’s an honor to be ranked among the top hospitals in the country once again by an independent source such as HealthGrades,” said Mitch Feldman, chief executive officer of Delray Medical Center. “I’d like to congratulate our physicians and staff for their dedication to quality and the outstanding patient outcomes they provide to this community.”
As part of its eighth annual Hospital Quality in America Study, HealthGrades independently analyzed more than 5,000 hospitals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for its 2006 ratings, objectively assessing their clinical outcomes and quality. The data utilized in the assessment is licensed from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and is risk-adjusted, so that hospitals with differing patient populations can be compared on equal footing. The HealthGrades ratings measure whether patient outcomes for each of more than two dozen procedures and diagnoses are better than expected (5-Star), as expected (3-Star) or worse than expected (1-Star).
“Each year HealthGrades identifies the top performers in several clinical areas, and we’re happy to announce that Delray Medical Center is a recipient of the 2006 Cardiac, Pulmonary and Gastrointestinal Care Excellence Awards," said Samantha Collier, M.D., HealthGrades vice president of medical affairs.
The 2006 HealthGrades ratings for all hospitals nationwide are available to consumers, free of charge, on the web at www.healthgrades.com. More than two-and-a-half million individuals and more than 125 of the nation’s largest employers rely on the HealthGrades web site to research quality information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians. HealthGrades also rates hospitals’ patient safety outcomes, based on indicators developed by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
About Delray Medical Center
Delray Medical Center, part of Tenet South Florida, is a 403-bed acute care hospital located at 5352 Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach. The community-based hospital has been serving the health care needs of south and central Palm Beach County for more than 20 years. Delray Medical Center, a state-designated Level II Trauma Center for adults and children, offers a broad array of specialized services-, ranging from acute care to rehabilitation, and psychiatric services to outpatient care. For four consecutive years, Delray Medical Center has been the recipient of the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence by HealthGrades, a leading national health care quality group. In 2005 and for the fourth year in succession, Solucient, a leading health care information company, listed Delray Medical Center as one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals. The hospital was also honored with the prestigious Tenet Circle of Excellence award for outstanding performance; the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce’s 2005 Business of the Year award; and its Cardiac Program was named 2005 Hospital-Based Program of the Year by the South Florida Business Journal. Delray Medical Center is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency. To learn more about Delray Medical Center, visit www.delraymedicalctr.com.
About HealthGrades
HealthGrades (Nasdaq:HGRD) is the leading healthcare ratings company, providing ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers, corporations, health plans and hospitals. Millions of consumers and hundreds of the nation’s largest employers, health plans and hospitals rely on HealthGrades’ independent ratings to make healthcare decisions based on the quality of care. More information on the company can be found at http://www.healthgrades.com.
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Editor’s Note: All claims made by Delray Medical Center in this news release with regard to HealthGrades awards, rankings and ratings are fully authorized by Health Grades, Inc. and supported by the company’s analysis of Federal Fiscal Year 2002-04 Medicare data licensed from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.