NEWBERRY — Healthgrades (online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals) announced this week that Newberry County Memorial Hospital earned the Outstanding Patient Experience Award, for the third year in a row. Alicia Carroll, associate director Quality Solutions at Healthgrades, said this names NCMH among the top five percent in the nation for patient experience.

“At Healthgrades, our goal is to empower patients to make better informed decisions about where they choose to seek medical care, and we do this by making key information about hospitals and physicians available to the public on our website. We see about a million visitors to our website a day,” Carroll said. “We take this responsibility pretty seriously. We evaluate hospital performance in terms of clinical outcomes, patient safety and patient experience. We believe these are the most fundamental, relative and objective measures of quality, so these are the metrics essential to our analysis.”

Each year the team at Healthgrades examine the clinical outcomes of nearly 4,500 hospitals across the United States. In order to be eligible for the Patient Experience Award, your hospital must be in the top 80 percent for clinical quality.

“So when you choose Newberry Hospital, not only are you going to receive outstanding patient experience, but you will also know you will receive exceptional clinical care as well. This is very empowering to the community and to the people you serve,” Carroll said.

Healthgrades evaluates performance by applying a scoring method to 10 patient safety measures, they use data collected from a 32 question survey from hospital patients. They focus on the patient perspective of their care. They will look at cleanliness, noise level, pain management and care team communication.

“This means everyone is involved in achieving this award,” Carroll said.

Along with the Outstanding Patient Experience Award, NCMH was also awarded the Joint Replacement Excellence Award, for the sixth year in a row. Carroll said this puts NCMH in the top 10 percent in the nation for joint replacement surgery.

“These awards are not realized by accident, we commend you and your hospital for achieving them through commitment to your core values, we believe it is the application of your core values and your quality principals that drove to these successes,” Carroll said. “It is clear that Newberry Hospital is committed to providing exceptional healthcare with a personal touch.”

Bruce Baldwin, chief executive officer of NCMH, said this is an example of what he has been saying for the last three and a half years, that NCMH is a great hospital because of the people.

“It is you, the people, that make the difference here, not the administration, not our equipment, it is the people. I’m very glad to work with you guys,” he said during the award presentation.

Barry Richardson, NCMH Board chair, echoed Baldwin’s statement. He added that as a Board, they do not have to worry about the clinical side.

“You are taking care of your and our family, friends, neighbors, and do it in such a professional way,” he said.

Alicia Carroll (center) awards Bruce Baldwin (right) and Barry Richardson (left) with the Outstanding Patient Experience Award.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_DSC_0925.jpgAlicia Carroll (center) awards Bruce Baldwin (right) and Barry Richardson (left) with the Outstanding Patient Experience Award. Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer

By Andrew Wigger

awigger@newberryobserver.com

Reach Andrew Wigger at 803-276-0625 ext. 1867 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.