November 12, 2010
TEAMWORK ONCE AGAIN MADE ALHAMBRA HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER AMONG NATION'S BEST
Alhambra, CA (November 12, 2010) - Alhambra Hospital Medical Center is proud to announce that an independent study has ranked AHMC in the upper 5% of the nation's hospitals for superior patient care outcomes. The hospital received the "HealthGrades 2010 Emergency Medicine Excellence Award™" today at an award presentation ceremony.
This award was based on the study conducted by HealthGrades, a healthcare ratings organization, which reviewed over 5 million Medicare records of patients that were admitted to hospitals through Emergency Rooms for eleven most common life-threatening conditions. Out of the 4,900 hospitals in the United States, Alhambra Hospital Medical Center is one of only 255 hospitals to receive this award. More notably, only 27 hospitals in California were recognized for these superior patient outcomes.
John Stewart, M.D., Chairman of the Governing Board, and Iris Lai, CEO of AHMC, received the award from Healthgrades on behalf of the hospital. "This award recognizes the quality of care and treatment received by our patients throughout the continuum of care at Alhambra," Iris Lai said. "Every member in the Circle of Care, which includes physicians, nurses, technicians, other ancillary supporting staff, and even patients and their family members, contributes to this success."
"The timely triage and diagnosis of patients arrived in the Emergency Room is crucial as many of our patients come through the emergency room," said Jeffrey Tsai, MD, Urologist and Chief of Staff at Alhambra Hospital Medical Center, complimenting all physicians and staff of the emergency room. "However, while the most critical treatment may begin in the Emergency Room, the outcomes are ultimately determined by the expertise of the inpatient units where the patients spend the majority of their hospital stay. It is important that we have a quality and comprehensive treatment team."
"On behalf of the medical staff of Alhambra Hospital Medical Center, we are happy to see that our hard work and dedication to patients is being recognized. We have spent a lot of time and effort in developing clinical protocols and processes to ensure prompt, quality care is offered to our patients," said Dr. Chin Shih, cardiologist and the incoming Chief of Staff of the hospital.
The HealthGrades study analyzed survival rates of Medicare patient records from 2006, 2007 and 2008 for the following eleven procedures: bowel obstruction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetic acidosis and coma, gastrointestinal bleed, heart attack, pancreatitis, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, respiratory failure, sepsis and stroke. The findings of the study showed that Emergency Medicine Excellence hospitals had risk-adjusted mortality that was 40% lower than all other hospitals.
This award of excellence is the latest honor for the Alhambra Hospital Medical Center. Among its recent clinical distinctions for superior patient care are:
Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (9 years in a row)
Five-Star Rated for Stroke Care (9 years in a row)
Five-Star Rated for Critical Care Services
Recipient of the HeathGrades Pulmonary Care Excellence Award (7 years in a row )
Top Performer Award for Acute Rehabilitation Services (Uniform Data Systems)
Alhambra Hospital Medical Center is an l44-bed general acute care hospital, located at the gateway to the San Gabriel Valley. Fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (TJC), the hospital is dedicated to providing prompt, personalized, high-quality healthcare in a friendly, comfortable, culturally sensitive environment.
Health Grades, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGRD) is the leading independent healthcare ratings organization providing quality ratings, profiles and cost information on the nation's hospitals, physicians, nursing homes and prescription drugs. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated. A full copy of the study can be found at
www.healthgrades.com.
