NCH Receives Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM

by Paul Hiltz
NCH President & CEO

Hello, Southwest Florida community. In a year that has been riddled with challenges and obstacles, I come to you with fantastic news for our healthcare organization. I am proud to announce that NCH Healthcare System has received the coveted Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM.

This distinction is highly recognized and places NCH among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems.

Frankly, this award means a great deal for all of us at NCH because of the emphasis we place on care on a daily basis.

Excellence in patient care and patient experience are what we strive for in our organization and starts the moment a patient walks through our doors.

To give you context about how great of an achievement this award is, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

  • 48.3% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals
  • 54.4% less likely to experience a hip fracture following surgery, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals
  • 66.8% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at nonrecipient hospitals
  • 3% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals

For additional perspective, Healthgrades statistics show that if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award recipients for each of the 13 patient safety indicators such as NCH has, 110,864 patient safety events could have been avoided.

“Consumers might not know that information around patient safety is readily available and should be considered when researching healthcare options,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We commend the recipients of the 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their dedication to providing excellent care for their patients.”

Being in the top 5% in your field nationally is an amazing goal and we are proud to set the bar so high each year.

From administration to staff and physicians, this award is a reflection on the pride and passion it takes to be on the frontlines of a healthcare organization especially given the unprecedented times we’ve faced this year. But we still have a lot of work to do. We didn’t get this far to only come this far. There is still so much more we can do as an organization and as a community as a whole to ensure that each and every one of us in Southwest Florida can lead a longer, happier, healthier life.

I am anxious to see what the future holds both for our healthcare system and our amazing community.

Until next time, I look forward to seeing you soon.

Thank you,

Paul Hiltz, FACHE

Paul Hiltz is the President and CEO of the NCH Healthcare System, an alliance of 775 physicians and medical facilities in dozens of locations throughout Collier County and Southwest Florida that offers nationally recognized, quality health care to our community. For more information, visit www.NCHmd.org.

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