EvergreenHealth has announced it has received the 2017 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ from Healthgrades for the eighth time in nine years. The honor places the health system among the top 5 percent of more than 4,500 hospitals evaluated nationwide based on its ability to provide outstanding clinical performance.

Healthgrades is the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals and releases this annual distinction for the nation’s top hospitals based on clinical outcomes, risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complication rates. This year, EvergreenHealth is one of 258 hospitals nationwide to receive the prestigious award.

“To be named among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide is a humbling achievement and is a direct reflection of our ongoing commitment to continued improvement,” said EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte. “This award, shared by every doctor, nurse, staff person and volunteer across our system, comes at the beginning of an exciting year for EvergreenHealth, in which we will broaden and enhance the safe, high quality, patient-centered care we provide to the communities we serve.”

EvergreenHealth received several accolades from Healthgrades over the last year, including recognition as one of “America’s 100 Best” hospitals in stroke care, pulmonary care, critical care, gastrointestinal care and general surgery. EvergreenHealth is also the only health system in Washington state honored amongst the top 5 percent in the nation for neurosciences for two years in a row. The health system received the Healthgrades Stroke Care Excellence Award™ for the eighth consecutive year, as well.

From 2013 through 2015, Healthgrades Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence, as a group, had a 26.2 percent lower risk of adjusted in-hospital mortality across 19 procedures and conditions where mortality was the clinical outcome, compared to hospitals that did not receive this distinction.

During this same period, if all other hospitals performed at the level of Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence across these procedures and conditions, 160,322 lives could potentially have been saved. For example, patients treated at a hospital that achieved the Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award had, on average, have a 25 percent lower risk of dying from a stroke than if treated at a hospital that did not receive the award.

The 258 recipients of the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence stand out among the rest for overall clinical excellence across a broad spectrum of care. During the 2017 study period (2013-2015), these hospitals showed superior performance in clinical outcomes for patients in the Medicare population across at least 21 of 32 of the most common inpatient conditions and procedures—as measured by objective clinical outcomes performance data (risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complications). Pneumonia, heart failure, sepsis and respiratory failure are included among the procedures EvergreenHealth and other Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence recipients excelled in treating.

“Consumers are doing their research when it comes to selecting the hospital where they receive their care, and high-marks in quality are a valuable differentiator that can set organizations apart,” said Brad Bowman, M.D., chief medical officer, Healthgrades. “We commend hospitals that have achieved Healthgrades 2017 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for demonstrating an unwavering commitment to high quality care for their patients.”

To learn more about how Healthgrades determines Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence recipients, visit www.healthgrades.com/quality.

For a complete list of EvergreenHealth’s recent Healthgrades awards and achievements, visit www.evergreenhealth.com/healthgrades.