Guadalupe Regional Medical Center (GRMC) is a recipient of the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ for the second year in a row! This designation recognizes superior performance of hospitals that have prevented the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays. The distinction places GRMC’s among the top 10 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data for its excellent performance as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

“This national recognition from Healthgrades, for the second consecutive year, confirms our testament to the high standard of care provided to patients every day by the staff at GRMC and to our dedication in providing high-quality, safe care to every life we are privileged to touch”, said Rhonda Unruh, VP of Quality for Guadalupe Regional Medical Center.

During the 2014 to 2016 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

• 55.6 percent less likely to experience an accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemorrhage during medical care, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals

• 52.4 percent less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals

• 62.8 percent less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals

• 54.3 percent less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals1

During the study period (2014 to 2016), Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals demonstrated excellent performance in safety provided for patients in the Medicare population, as measured by objective outcomes (risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates) for 13 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

If all hospitals achieved the average performance of award recipients for each of the 13 Patient Safety Indicators evaluated, during the 2014 to 2016 study period, 126,342 patient safety events could have been avoided.

“We applaud the hospitals who have received the Healthgrades 2018 Patient Safety Excellence Award,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “Their dedication and commitment to providing safe care creates tangible results for patients.”

View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies. Access the recently released Patient Sentiment Report from Healthgrades and MGMA, which analyzed nearly 7 million.

1 Statistics are based on Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology, which is primarily constructed using AHRQ Technical Specifications version 5E applied to MedPAR data for years 2014 through 2016 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.