HealthGrades names 50 Best Hospitals in U.S.

HealthGrades has released its 2011 50 Best Hospitals report, and only 19 states had hospitals that made the cut.

The results are based on 10-year quality outcomes—risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality and complication rates—from non-federal hospitals' performance of 26 diagnoses and procedures including coronary bypass surgery, coronary interventional procedures, GI bleeds, MI and heart failure, among others.

Hospitals that ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation over a three-year period are tapped as Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence and America’s 50 Best Hospitals are those that have been Distinguished Hospitals for the longest period of time.

Overall, the 50 Best Hospitals had a 28.59 percent lower risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality compared to all other hospitals for 17 procedures and conditions where mortality was assessed. For nine procedures—carotid stenting and peripheral vascular bypass, among others—where complication rates were studied, the 50 Best Hospitals had a 3.45 percent lower risk-adjusted in-hospital complication rate.

The report authors, Kristin Reed, MPH, and Rick May, MD, of HealthGrades, wrote that if all hospitals performed at the level of the 50 Best Hospitals between 2007 and 2009, 173,310 Medicare deaths could have had the potential to be prevented and 6,867 Medicare in-hospital complications avoided.

The report assessed Medicare data from an estimated 140 million inpatient records between 1999 and 2009. The 50 Best Hospitals were located in 28 cities in 19 states, 86 percent were not-for-profit government entities and 82 percent had more than 250 beds, while 58 percent had more than 350 beds. West Palm Beach, Fla., had the area with the most facilities—six that were tapped as the nation’s best, while Chicago and Cleveland both had four hospitals each.

Below are the winning hospitals, by location:

Arizona

Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center in Sun City West
Mayo Clinic Hospital in Scottsdale

California

Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center in Glendale
Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica

Colorado

Centura Health—Penrose St. Francis Health Services in Colorado Springs

Florida

Flagler Hospital in Saint Augustine
Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala
Ocala Regional Medical Center/West Marion Hospital in Ocala
Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford
Bay Medical Center in Panama City
Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota
Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart
Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Boca Raton
Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center in Palm Beach Gardens
Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute in Fort Pierce
Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter
Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach

Illinois

Evanston Hospital, including:

• Highland Park Hospital in Highland Park and

• Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview

Skokie Hospital in Skokie
Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village

Indiana

Community Hospital in Munster

Iowa

Saint Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids

Kentucky

St. Elizabeth Edgewood in Edgewood

Maryland

Franklin Square Hospital Center, Baltimore
Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Baltimore
Good Samaritan Hospital, Baltimore

Michigan

Saint Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia
Beaumont Hospital—Royal Oak in Royal Oak
Beaumont Hospital—Troy in Troy
Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc
Munson Medical Center in Traverse City

Missouri

St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield

New Jersey

Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack
Community Medical Center in Toms River

North Carolina

Rex Hospital in Raleigh

Ohio

Christ Hospital in Cincinnati
Summa Akron City and St. Thomas Hospitals in Akron
Akron General Medical Center in Akron
Marymount Hospital in Garfield Heights
Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights
Grandview Medical Center in Dayton

 Oregon

Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg

Pennsylvania

Hamot Medical Center in Erie
Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster
St. Luke’s Hospital—Bethlehem Campus in Bethlehem, including:

• St. Luke’s Hospital-Allentown Campus in Allentown

•   Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown

Mercy Hospital Scranton in Scranton

Tennessee

Memorial Healthcare System in Chattanooga

Texas

Memorial Hermann Healthcare System—Southwest, including:

• Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital in Houston

• Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital in Houston

• Memorial Hermann the Woodlands Hospital in Houston

Virginia

Henrico Doctor’s Hospital,including:

• Parham Doctor’s Hospital in Richmond

• Retreat Doctor’s Hospital in Richmond