UF Health Jacksonville named a top hospital by Healthgrades
UF Health Jacksonville has been named one of the best hospitals in America by Healthgrades, a national organization that analyzes the performance of hospitals across the country. UF Health Jacksonville was among the top 250 hospitals nationwide, or the top 5 percent, in overall clinical excellence.
This is the second recent Healthgrades honor for UF Health Jacksonville, which received two clinical awards in late 2018, when it was ranked as one of the top hospitals in multiple areas of care in the organization’s report.
“This is an amazing achievement for everyone at UF Health Jacksonville and is a direct result of the focus we put on patient care,” said Leon L. Haley Jr., M.D., MHSA, CEO of UF Health Jacksonville and dean of the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville. “All of our caregivers and those who support them should be proud of this honor. Our goal will always be to provide the most comprehensive and compassionate care to our community.”
Healthgrades America’s Best Hospitals is based solely on clinical quality outcomes for 32 conditions and procedures. This premier distinction rewards hospitals that consistently exhibit exceptional, comprehensive quality care. Healthgrades says patients are more likely to have a successful treatment without major complications — and have a lower chance of dying — at America’s Best Hospitals.
“Healthgrades congratulates recipients of the America’s 50, 100 and 250 Best Hospitals Awards,” said Brad Bowman, chief medical officer at Healthgrades. “Consumers have many options for care, so when hospitals prove their long-term commitment to the patient and to achieving high-quality clinical outcomes, it sets their system apart in a sea of choices.”
The Healthgrades analysis revealed that, on average, America’s Best Hospitals outperformed their peers in treating a core group of conditions that account for more than 80 percent of mortalities in areas evaluated, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, respiratory failure, sepsis and stroke. These hospitals are also among the top 5 percent in the nation that deliver high-quality care across at least 21 of 32 common inpatient conditions and procedures, according to the Healthgrades analysis.
“We have put a tremendous amount of effort into boosting our quality scores because in the end, that means better outcomes for patients,” said Kelly Gray-Eurom, M.D., chief quality officer for UF Health Jacksonville. “This shows that the steps we have taken, and continue to take, are having a dramatic, positive effect on care.”
Patients treated in hospitals named as America’s Best Hospitals have, on average, a 27.1 percent lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that did not receive this award. According to Healthgrades, if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to America’s Best Hospitals, more than 168,000 lives could potentially have been saved.
In the separate report released in late 2018, UF Health Jacksonville was singled out for clinical quality awards in cranial neurosurgery and critical care. UF Health Jacksonville is the only hospital in Northeast Florida to receive those distinctions. UF Health Jacksonville also achieved 5-star ratings from Healthgrades in caring for heart failure, respiratory failure, sepsis, esophageal/stomach surgery and stroke.