MEMORIAL HOSPITAL OF CARBONDALE RECEIVES OUTSTANDING PATIENT EXPERIENCE AWARD
Top 10% in the Nation Based on Patient Surveys
(CARBONDALE, IL)– Memorial Hospital of Carbondale is among the top 10% in the nation for patient experience based on an analysis of patient surveys from 3,775 hospitals across the country by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization. By placing in the top 10%, Memorial Hospital of Carbondale received the 2010/2011 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™.
Under a program administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, surveys were sent to patients within 48 hours after their discharge. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, or HCAHPS, was collected between July 2008 and June 2009.
Memorial Hospital of Carbondale was the only recipient of the HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ in the Carbondale area.
“We are honored to receive the HealthGrades award,” said Bart Millstead, MHC administrator. “It’s a recognition of the hard work of the staff at Memorial Hospital, who are constantly trying to make sure everyone who walks through the door receives the best care possible.”
As part of Memorial’s service excellence initiative, employees actively participate on teams that investigate and create solutions to improve the patient experience. For example, a number of internal changes resulted in a reduction in the noise level on inpatient floors and expedited the patient discharge process. Another recent project involved the reorganization of recovery space in Same-Day Surgery. As a result, physicians and patients are saving over 430 miles of steps per year, the equivalent of walking from Carbondale to Atlanta, Georgia. Efforts to reduce wait times for lab and imaging tests are ongoing.
“There are a select group of hospitals that have made a top-to-bottom commitment to providing their patients with an outstanding patient experience as part of their overall commitment to quality,” said Rick May, MD, a HealthGrades vice president. “Members of their community should take pride in knowing that, should they need it, there’s a hospital in their area that puts patients first.”
About Memorial Hospital of Carbondale
Memorial Hospital first opened as Doctors Hospital in 1950. Today, it serves as a tertiary care facility with 153 beds. A nationally recognized Top 100 Hospital for cardiovascular care, cardiologists and surgeons perform over 3,500 catheterizations and 250 open-heart surgeries at Memorial’s Prairie Heart Institute.
Memorial’s services also include neurosurgery, a regional cancer center, and the only Level II Plus neonatal intensive care unit south of Springfield. Home to the area’s largest obstetrics center, up to 2,000 babies are born at Memorial each year. Memorial also serves as the “pod” hospital for Region V of the Illinois Emergency Medical System. As a regional center, the Emergency Department manages nearly 30,000 patients each year.
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