Marinette, Wis. (February 7, 2006) – Today, Bay Area Medical Center announced that a study of quality at the nation's 5,000 hospitals named the hospital as one of the top five percent in the nation and a recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical ExcellenceTM. The study conducted by HealthGrades, the leading healthcare ratings company, found that hospitals in the top five percent in the nation had mortality rates that were, on average, 27 percent lower than other hospitals, and major complication rates that were 14 percent lower.
Each year, HealthGrades conducts the most comprehensive studies of hospital quality in America, producing a rating for every nonfederal hospital in 26 diagnoses and procedures. Hospitals that receive the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence are those hospitals that place among the top five percent nationally when all 26 ratings are aggregated into a comprehensive score. Only 277 hospitals nationwide are recognized.
“This award truly speaks to the culture of quality at Bay Area Medical Center,” said David Olson, president & CEO of Bay Area Medical Center. “It is one thing to be recognized for excellence in a single service area but something all together different to achieve this level of recognition across all service areas of the hospital.”
Bay Area Medical Center is the only hospital in northeastern Wisconsin to receive the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. Additionally, the hospital achieved five-star ratings for treatment of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, community-acquired pneumonia, GI bleed, pulmonary embolism and sepsis.
For its study, HealthGrades performed an analysis of almost 39 million Medicare hospitalization records that cover the latest three-year period, from 2002 to 2004. The analysis is risk-adjusted to account for differences in patient populations between hospitals. In the study, HealthGrades found that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence outperformed all other hospitals across the procedures and diagnoses studied. HealthGrades estimates that if during the time period studied all patients had gone to a Distinguished Hospital, 152,966 lives could have been saved and 21,896 post-operative complications could have been avoided.
“Every day at Bay Area Medical Center we envision delivering care that is on the cutting edge,” said Olson. “It is only through teamwork and the dedication of our staff that this vision becomes a reality. It is because of these individuals that we are among the best in the nation.
About the Hospital:
Bay Area Medical Center is a 99-bed general acute care hospital located in Northeast Wisconsin. It includes a community primary/secondary care hospital, a 71,100 sq.-ft. outpatient surgery center, a primary care physician joint venture, and a radiation oncology joint venture. BAMC offers select, advanced medical services, with an emphasis on diagnostic radiology, rehabilitation services, ambulatory surgery, obstetrics, cancer treatment and urgent care. In March of 2005, Bay Area Medical Center was named one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals by Solucient, the leading source of healthcare business intelligence.