Community Corner

Morristown Medical Center Gets an 'A'

Rating given to hospital for patient safety by independent national nonprofit group.

Morristown's hometown hospital, Morristown Medical Center, earned an "A" rating recently from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.

The press release is below:

MORRISTOWN, NJ, JUNE 2012 – Morristown Medical Center, part of Atlantic Health System, was awarded an “A” Hospital Safety ScoreSM by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. The Hospital Safety ScoreSM was calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s Blue Ribbon Expert Panel using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors, and infections. Hospitals across the country were assigned an A, B, C, D, or F for their safety.

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“Patient safety and quality are the pillars of Morristown Medical Center, and The Leapfrog Group’s recognition of how the hospital treats its patients is a testament to our dedication to providing superior patient care,” said David J. Shulkin, MD, president, Morristown Medical Center, vice president, Atlantic Health System. “We applaud efforts to make hospital performance data available to consumers, and encourage patients and family members to reference comparative information when making their health care decisions.”

Morristown Medical Center also was ranked the top hospital in the state for the second consecutive year and voted the No.1 hospital for coronary surgery, treatment of heart failure, hip and knee repair, and pediatric cancers by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., one of the nation’s most respected health care research and information companies. These rankings were published in Inside Jersey magazine’s April 2012 issue.

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To see Morristown Medical Center’s Hospital Safety ScoreSM ratings as it compares nationally and locally, visit www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.

"As our health system embraces greater transparency, the 2012 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Score is one of many important resources that patients can consider while making informed choices with their health care," said Donald Casey, Jr., MD, chief medical officer and vice president, quality, Atlantic Health System. "These reports affirm the efforts of our physicians, nurses, and staff to provide the highest level of patient safety and quality hospital care."

“It’s The Leapfrog Group’s goal to give patients the information they need and deserve before even entering a hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We congratulate the hospitals that earned an ‘A’ and we look forward to the day when all hospitals in the U.S. will earn the highest scores for putting patient safety first.”

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group’s nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Lucian Leape (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco). 

About The Leapfrog Group 

The Leapfrog Group (www.leapfroggroup.org) is a national organization using the collective leverage of large purchasers of health care to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey allows purchasers to structure their contracts and purchasing to reward the highest performing hospitals. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 with support from the Business Roundtable and national funders, and is now independently operated with support from its purchaser and other members.

About Atlantic Health System
Atlantic Health System is one of the largest non-profit health care systems in New Jersey, comprised of Morristown Medical CenterOverlook Medical Center in Summit and Newton Medical Center. The three medical centers – all accredited by The Joint Commission – have a combined total of 1,308 licensed beds and more than 2,750 affiliated physicians providing a wide array of health care services to the residents of Northern and Central New Jersey. Specialty service areas include advanced cardiovascular carepediatric medical and surgical specialtiesneurologyorthopedics, and sports medicine. Each of these programs has earned top ratings and recognitions in their respective fields. Atlantic Health System is the official health care partner of the New York Jets and an official health care provider of the New Jersey Devils.

Morristown Medical Center’s Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute performs more heart surgeries than any other hospital in New Jersey, and is one of 20 facilities across the country to perform catheter-based repair and replacement of valves on both sides of the heart. Atlantic Health System’s spine program – where surgeons perform more spine surgery than anywhere else in New Jersey – is one of just 13 hospitals across the country that has received the Gold Seal of Approval™ from The Joint Commission, achieving Disease-Specific Care Certification for cervical and lumbar spine treatments. With theAtlantic Neuroscience Institute based at Overlook Medical Center, the hospital serves as the hub for the New Jersey Stroke Network, and serves about 40 percent of the state’s stroke patients. The system’s Goryeb Children’s Hospital offers more than 100 board-certified physicians in 20 pediatric specialties. Morristown Medical Center is verified as a Level I Regional Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons and designated a Level II by the state of New Jersey.

Atlantic Health System has been chosen for the past three consecutive years by FORTUNE® as one of the magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For®.” The organization has also been recognized four times by AARP as one of the “Best Employers for Workers over 50.” Inside Jersey magazine partnered with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. and ranked Morristown Medical Center as the No. 1 hospital in New Jersey and the No. 1 hospital for treatment of heart failure and coronary surgery in the state. The survey findings also establish Overlook as No.1 for the treatment of neurological disorders andstroke in NJ. Atlantic Health System is a Major Clinical Research Affiliate with The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and is the primary academic and clinical affiliate in New Jersey of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and The Mount Sinai Hospital.

 


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