Lehigh Acres, Florida – Lehigh Regional Medical Center, a member of Prime Healthcare, today announced that it has been recognized by Healthgrades as a 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient. This distinction places Lehigh Regional Medical Center among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting patients and providers. This is the 5th consecutive year Lehigh Regional Medical Center has received the Healthgrades Patient Safety Award, and the 3rd year to be named among the Top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety.
For the eighth year in a row, Prime Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading health systems, had more Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients than any other health system, according to Healthgrades.
“We are honored to be receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award from Healthgrades for the 5th year in a row. This award showcases our continued dedication to patient safety and quality care to those we serve. The entire team at Lehigh Regional Medication Center strives to always provide the very best care and service,” said Dayna Flores, Director, Performance Improvement.
“Through our 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Awards, we seek to recognize hospitals that excel in providing top-quality care for their patients while preventing serious injuries during hospital stays,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and head of Data Science, Healthgrades. “We are proud to name Lehigh Regional Medical Center as a 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient and look forward to their continued efforts to make patient safety a top priority.”
If all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to the 2023 Patient Safety Award recipients, on average, 95,880 patient safety events could have been avoided. *
“Achieving this award for the 5th year confirms our team’s focus on the best clinical outcomes for our patients. It’s a privilege to be part of a team who continually strives to improve quality and positively impacts the health of the community we serve,” said Cheryl McIntire, CEO of Lehigh Regional Medical Center.
During the 2019-2021 study period, 164,592 potentially preventable patient safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals. * Healthgrades found that just four patient safety indicators accounted for 74% of all patient safety events: hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, collapsed lung resulting from a procedure/surgery, pressure or bed sores acquired in the hospital, and catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in-hospital. Healthgrades’ analysis also revealed that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:
● 61.4%% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
● 52.7% less likely to experience a collapsed lung resulting from a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
● 66.1% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
● 67.3% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at nonrecipient hospitals*
Consumers can visit healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and access the complete methodology here.
*Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2022.0.1) for MedPAR data years 2019 through 2021 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
About Lehigh Regional Medical Center
Lehigh Regional Medical Center, a member of Prime Healthcare is accredited by The Joint Commission with the Gold Seal of Approval as a 53-bed acute-care facility. Committed to compassionate care, Lehigh Regional Medical Center has uniquely served its five-county community in Lehigh Acres, Florida, since 1965. The state-of-the-art hospital provides specialty care services that include Emergency Services, Cardiology, Critical Care, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Nephrology, and Orthopedics delivering patient-centered healthcare with dignity and respect for all. LehighRegional.com
About Healthgrades
Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. As the #1 platform for finding a doctor and a leader in healthcare transparency, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their healthcare professional of choice and prepare for their appointments with best-in-class, treatment-focused content. Our health system, large group practice, and life sciences marketing solutions have been helping our partners reach and engage consumers who are on their way to the doctor for over 20 years.
Healthgrades is part of RVO Health, a partnership between Red Ventures and Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group. RVO Health has the largest consumer health and wellness audience online across its brand portfolio including Healthgrades, Healthline, Medical News Today, Greatist, Psych Central, Bezzy and Platejoy which touch every part of the health and wellness journey. Each month, RVO Health helps more than 100 million unique visitors live their strongest and healthiest lives. Healthgrades Contact: Maria Santucci
