Parkland Health Center is named one of the nation's "Top 100 Hospitals" by Thomson Reuters in its annual study. The analysis identified the 100 top U.S. hospitals based on their overall organizational performance. It is Parkland Health Center's second consecutive year on the list. Parkland Health Center is one of only 20 small community hospitals recognized nationally.

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals National Benchmarks study recognizes hospitals achieving excellence in clinical process and outcomes, patient safety, patient satisfaction, financial performance, and operational efficiency.

"The 100 Top Hospitals winners raised the bar again this year, delivering a higher level of reliable care and greater value for their communities and payers," says Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs at Thomson Reuters.

"We're happy and grateful to be recognized for a second year," says Tom Karl, Parkland Health Center president. "Results like this reflect a great effort on the part of the entire team, and say a lot about the wisdom of BJC in setting a very high expectation of excellence in all our key result areas. Awards like this confirm we're headed in the right direction, but we all know we're only as good as the kind of care we give to the next patient and family that enters our door for help."

Thomson Reuters researchers evaluate 3,000 short-term, acute-care, non-federal hospitals in nine areas:

• Mortality
• Medical complications
• Patient safety
• Average length of stay
• Expenses
• Profitability
• Cash-to-debt ratio
• Patient satisfaction
• Adherence to clinical standards of care.

They use public information, Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare data set.

"Our patients receive incredible care here," says Kathy Hight, assistant administrator, patient care. "We have worked hard on exceeding national patient safety goals, improved staff-to-patient ratios, and we work with our physicians to help them meet the goals we have established. We make sure our employees like working here. It's a win-win situation for everyone."

"We are small, but not too small," says Brenda Barton, RN, director, surgical services. "We make each patient feel that they are number one. Even though we are rural, it doesn't mean we are less capable."

In the Thomson Reuters report, if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as patients treated in the winning hospitals:

• More than 107,500 additional patients would survive each year
• About 132,000 patient complications would be avoided annually
• Expenses would decline by $5.9 billion a year
• The average patient stay would decrease by almost half a day