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TOMS RIVER, NJ, OCTOBER 14, 2009 – Community Medical Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, has been rated number one in New Jersey for overall Orthopedic Services in a new study released by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings organization. In addition, Community Medical Center received the Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award in Joint Replacement along with five-star ratings for total knee replacement, total hip replacement, joint hip replacement, hip fracture repair and spinal surgery.
In addition to the orthopedic designations, Community Medical Center was ranked number one in New Jersey for Overall Pulmonary Services and has received the Pulmonary Care Excellence Award for the sixth year in a row. The hospital is ranked among the top 5% in the nation for Overall Pulmonary Services for the second year in a row. HealthGrades has given Community five-star ratings for treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for the second year and Treatment of Pneumonia for the eighth consecutive year.
The hospital also earned five-star ratings for Cardiac Services, and is ranked among the top 10 in New Jersey for Coronary Interventional Procedures, for which is also earned a five-star rating. Community received its third consecutive five-star rating for treatment of Heart Attack and the second five star rating for treatment of Heart Failure.
The hospital also earned HealthGrades Gastrointestinal Care Excellence Award and Gastrointestinal Surgery Excellence Award for 2010, and is ranked among the top 5% in the nation for GI surgery and top 10% in the nation for overall GI services. The hospital earned several five-star ratings for GI surgical procedures.
Mark D. Pilla, Executive Vice President of Operations for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System and Executive Director of Community Medical Center, said, “This is a prestigious honor for our hospital, one that could not be achieved without the support of our dedicated staff and outstanding physicians. To achieve distinctions such as these on a national level is a testament to our drive for excellence and overall clinical quality.”
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. Among the findings related to inhospital complications in this year’s study are:
- Across all procedures in which complications were studied, there was a 79.69% lower chance of experiencing one or more inhospital complications in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital.
- Across all procedures studied, there was a 61.22% lower chance of experiencing one or more inhospital complications in a 5-star rated hospital compared to the U.S. hospital average.
- If all hospitals performed at the level of a 5-star rated hospital, 110,687 orthopedic inhospital complications may have been avoided among Medicare patients over the three years studied.
The new 2010 HealthGrades hospital ratings are available at www.healthgrades.com, HealthGrades’ public Web site.
Pilla said, “As the largest and busiest hospital in Ocean County, the patients and families in this region should be proud to have a nationally-designated hospital right here, close to home.” He added, “Recognitions such as these are often associated with large, urban academic medical centers. Knowing our patients can get this outstanding level of care in Toms River makes the choice of Community Medical Center a trusted, uncomplicated one.”
For more information on Community Medical Center, visit www.saintbarnabas.com or call 1-888-724-7123.
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 today’s HealthGrades study, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com.
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