PENINSULA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER RANKED AMONG THE TOP FIVE PERCENT OF UNITED STATES HOSPITALS FOR A FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

Only Delmarva Peninsula Hospital to Earn HealthGrades Top Honor in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, and One of

Just 177 in the Nation Honored for Four Consecutive Years

Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Salisbury, Maryland, announced today that a new study, for the fourth consecutive year, has ranked its clinical quality among the top 5% of all American hospitals across 26 medical procedures and diagnoses.

The study by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, analyzed patient outcomes at each of the nation's 5,000 non-federal hospitals over the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 and named hospitals in the top five percent, including Peninsula Regional, as HealthGrades Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence^TM. 

Peninsula Regional Medical Center is one of only 263 hospitals to receive this prestigious distinction from HealthGrades this year, and the only Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award recipient on the Delmarva Peninsula in 2009, 2010, 2011 and now 2012.   It is also in the elite company of just 177 United States hospitals to repeat in those four consecutive years.

Recently, HealthGrades named Peninsula Regional Medical Center among the Best 100 Hospitals in the Nation in 2012 for: Cardiac Care, Stroke Care, Pulmonary Care, Gastrointestinal Care, Critical Care, and General Surgery.  Only four hospitals across the nation ranked among the 100 Best in more specialties; none located in the Mid-Atlantic region. 

HealthGrades also ranked PRMC #1 in Maryland in 2012 for Cardiology Services, Treatment of Stroke and Vascular Surgery (for the second consecutive year).

Additionally, the HealthGrades study again found Peninsula Regional a regional leader in clinical excellence, ranking it as the Best on the Delmarva Peninsula for Overall Cardiac Services, Cardiology, Stroke Care, Neurosciences, Overall Pulmonary Care, Vascular Surgery, Overall GI Care and Critical Care for 2012. 

"We are humbled and privileged to be recognized among the nation's best hospitals for safety, quality care and outcomes for a fourth consecutive year," said Dr. Peggy Naleppa, MS, MBA, President/CEO of Peninsula Regional Medical Center.  "You only reach that level of exceptional performance through a constancy of purpose and a dedication to quality and reliability in everything you do.  While we're not perfect, we are committed to becoming better each day, with an experienced team of doctors, clinicians, volunteers and employees focused on making sure the needs of every patient and every person are met every time."

According to the tenth annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study, Peninsula Regional Medical Center and the other hospitals in the top 5% demonstrated patient outcomes that far exceeded those of other hospitals.  Patients admitted to top 5% hospitals, like PRMC, had risk-adjusted mortality rates that were, on average, 30% lower than all other hospitals and a risk adjusted complication rate 1.86% lower than all other hospitals.

"This award is built upon a foundation of patient safety and quality patient care, which are also at the core of everything we do at Peninsula Regional," added Martin "Marty" Neat, Chairman of the Board of Trustees.  "Improvements in the way we diagnose and rapidly treat severe sepsis have reduced our mortality rate in that condition alone by 39% with dozens of lives saved.  And relative to heart conditions, within 90 minutes-the accepted gold standard-anyone presenting in our Emergency Department requiring a heart catheterization is receiving one 94% of the time within that window; and we've reduced the median time to just 62 minutes.  For over a year now, we've had zero ventilator associated pneumonia cases in our ICU, and with the implementation of a new program, we've had zero readmissions to our Pediatric Unit within 10 days of birth for late term babies born prematurely."

The HealthGrades study determined that if all hospitals in the U.S. performed at the same level of the Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence, over 165,000 lives could potentially have been saved and 6,800 in-hospital complications could potentially have been avoided.

"Peninsula Regional Medical Center can be proud of the contributions of its physicians, nurses and staff in achieving outstanding patient care," said Kristin Reed, MPH, HealthGrades Vice President of Hospital Ratings and author of the study. "The Delmarva Peninsula is fortunate to have access to some of the highest quality hospital care in the nation."

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About Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC)

At over 360 acute care beds, 30 transitional care beds and 28 newborn beds, PRMC is the region's largest, most advanced tertiary care facility, and has been meeting the healthcare needs of Delmarva Peninsula residents since 1897.  Its 3,300 physicians, staff and volunteers provide safe, compassionate and affordable care designed to exceed the expectations of the nearly 500,000 patients who rely on the Medical Center team each year for inpatient, outpatient, diagnostic, subacute and emergency/trauma services.  It is the region's oldest healthcare institution with the most experienced team of healthcare professionals.

Peninsula Regional is an affiliate of the Johns Hopkins Clinical Research Network (JHCRN), a group of academic and community-based clinical researchers designed to provide new opportunities for research collaborations and accelerate the transfer of new diagnostic, treatment, and disease prevention advances from the research arena to patient care.

Peninsula Regional is the 6^th largest Medical Center in the state of Maryland-by licensed acute care bed count-offering a full range of services, including neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, joint replacement, emergency/trauma care and comprehensive cancer care.

Editor's note: A full copy of the study is available at http://www.healthgrades.com.