August 27, 2008

News Release

Shady Grove Adventist Hospital Named Top 100 Hospitals Performance Improvement Leader

Rockville , MD – Shady Grove Adventist Hospital has been recognized by the Thomson Reuters organization as one of the 100 Top Hospitals Performance Improvement Leaders for 2007.  The prestigious award recognizes Shady Grove’s five-year rate of consistent annual improvement in the hospital industry between 2002 and 2006.

“The collaboration and teamwork of employees, medical staff, executives and boards have helped us achieve this important national recognition for our hospital,” notes Shady Grove President Dennis Hansen.  “Our team’s constant commitment to making Shady Grove Adventist Hospital an outstanding place to receive compassionate, high-quality care is clearly demonstrated in this achievement.”

Data used to select hospitals for the Top 100 Hospitals Performance Improvement list is pulled from a variety of public sources including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital compare data and the Medicare Cost Report.  Thompson Reuters examined data for 2,800 U.S. hospitals on a variety of criteria to identify the top 100.  Hospitals were rated on eight factors — patient mortality, medical complications, patient safety, length of stay, expenses, profitability, cash-to-debt ratio, and use of evidence-based medicine.

According to the Thompson data, Shady Grove improved more consistently and faster than 94 percent of its peers between 2002 and 2006.  Shady Grove is included in this year’s Large Community Hospital list and is the only Maryland hospital included in this year’s performance improvement hospitals list.

“This accomplishment highlights the great strides that the Shady Grove Adventist Hospital team has made to meet the changing and growing health care needs of our community in recent years,” explains William G. “Bill” Robertson, President of Adventist HealthCare and Chair of Shady Grove’s Governance Board.  “We are pleased to be recognized as one of the top community hospitals in the country.”

According to Thompson Reuters, winners of the Performance Improvement Leaders award have the potential to eventually become winners of the National award, given the current rate and consistency of improvement. 

Shady Grove Adventist Hospital , is a not-for-profit, acute care facility with 293 licensed beds that is located in Rockville, Maryland.  Shady Grove is committed to delivering excellent health care through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing.  The hospital offers a broad range of health services and is recognized for excellence in emergency care; high-risk obstetrical and neonatal care; cardiac and vascular interventional care; as well as a broad range of surgical specialties.  Also, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital for Children, which is located within Shady Grove Adventist Hospital encompasses a broad range of specialized services for children, including the first Pediatric Emergency Department in Montgomery County and the only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in the county.  The Shady Grove Adventist Emergency Center in Germantown opened in 2006 and is providing increased access to emergency medical care for upcounty residents.  Shady Grove Adventist Hospital is part of Rockville, Maryland-based Adventist HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery system that is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland.