The Journal

Mercy Regional Medical Center was again recognized as one of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best™ Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery and America’s 100 Best™ Hospitals for Spine Surgery in 2017. The awards place Mercy among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation for performance in these areas. Mercy is the only hospital in Colorado to be named one of America’s 100 Best in these specialties for five years in a row (2013-2017).

Patients treated at hospitals receiving Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery award and America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery award have, on average, a significantly lower risk of experiencing a complication while in the hospital than if they were treated in hospitals which did not receive the awards.

“We are delighted to be recognized with multiple 2017 Healthgrades national awards. Such recognition speaks to the talent and dedication of our physicians, allied health professionals, nurses, and staff. It is the culture of excellence that has been cultivated at Mercy that has led to such long-standing, repeated national awards,” said Bill Plauth, M.D., chief medical officer at Mercy Regional Medical Center. “We thank the Mercy family and our community partners for their commitment to excellent, compassionate care,” he added.

The achievements are part of findings released last week in the Healthgrades 2017 Report to the Nation. The new report demonstrates how clinical performance continues to differ dramatically between hospitals nationally, regionally, and at the local level, and the impact that this variation may have on health outcomes. For example, from 2013-2015, if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to hospitals receiving five stars as a group, on average, 223,412 lives could potentially have been saved and 162,215 complications could potentially have been avoided.* A five-star rating indicates that a hospital’s clinical outcomes are statistically significantly better than expected when treating the condition or performing the procedure being evaluated.

“The Healthgrades 2017 Report to the Nation reveals striking disparities in the quality observed among the nation’s hospitals, and underscores why it is vital for consumers to understand outcomes performance at specific hospitals for specific conditions and procedures,” said Evan Marks, Chief Strategy Officer for Healthgrades. “A given community may have many hospitals, but only a precious few may provide better-than-expected outcomes for the specific care a patient needs. Those hospitals that have achieved the Healthgrades ‘100 Best’ distinction have demonstrated a commitment to exceptional quality of care.”