Other Lourdes' Services Recognized Based On Study Of Patient Outcomes at the Nation's Hospitals by Healthgrades

Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center has been ranked number one in New Jersey for vascular surgery by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, according to Alexander J. Hatala, president and CEO of the Lourdes Health System. The recognition is based on HealthGrades' twelfth annual Hospital Quality in America study, released this week, which analyzes patient outcomes at virtually all of the nation's hospitals.

In the 2010 HealthGrades study, Lourdes also received several other healthcare quality recognitions, including:

• Recipient of the 2010 HealthGrades Coronary Intervention Excellence Award™
• Ranked Among the Top 10 percent in the Nation for Coronary Interventional Procedures
• Ranked Among the Top 10 in New Jersey for Overall Cardiac Services
• Ranked Among the Top 5 in New Jersey for Cardiac Surgery
• Ranked Among theTop10 in New Jersey for Cardiology Services
• Ranked Among the Top 10 in New Jersey for Coronary Interventional Procedures
• Five-Star Rated for Coronary Bypass Surgery
• Five-Star Rated for Coronary Interventional Procedures
• Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Heart Attack
• Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Stroke
• Five-Star Rated for Carotid Surgery

"These HealthGrades ratings demonstrate that our ongoing quality and performance improvement efforts are making a huge difference in the care our patients receive," said Hatala. "As an organization, we are committed to quality, and I give credit of our physicians and our entire staff for making these designations possible."

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. This year's study found:

• Across all 17 procedures and diagnoses in which mortality was studied, there was an approximate 72 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital, and a 52 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star hospital compared with the national average.
• If all hospitals performed at the level of a 5-star rated hospital across the 17 procedures and diagnoses studied, 224,537 Medicare lives could potentially have been saved from 2006 through 2008.

The new 2010 HealthGrades hospital ratings are available at www.healthgrades.com, HealthGrades' public Web site.

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.

Lourdes Health System is one of southern New Jersey's leading healthcare providers. The system is comprised of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, a 410-bed regional referral center located in Camden, Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, a 249-bed community hospital located in Willingboro and the Lourdes Wellness Center, the area's heart of integrative and wholistic health services.

The Lourdes Health System is sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, N.Y., and is a member of Catholic Health East, a health system with 34 hospitals on the East Coast.

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