Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital is one of two hospitals in California to receive HealthGrades^® Outstanding Patient Experience Award for five consecutive years at the top 5% level.

The hospitals’ focus on delivering quality medical care with wonderful service is something patients remember and appreciate, according to the nation’s leading independent health care ratings organization. Patients say their hospital stay is more like a luxury hotel experience with restaurant quality food, rooms that feature carpeting, drapes, decorative lamps and upgraded flat screens.

Fresno Heart & Surgical is one of two hospitals nationwide to receive HealthGrades® Outstanding Patient Experience Award for five consecutive years at the top 5% level.

“We are gratified by our patients’ assessment of their stay,” said Wanda Holderman, the hospital’s chief executive officer. “I’m proud of our staff and physicians’ continuing clinical excellence and their extraordinary collaboration to put patients’ needs at the center of everything they do.”
 

The 2012 Outstanding Patient Experience Award was based on patient survey data collected as part of the federal government’s Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, or HCAHPS. This year HealthGrades recognized nine other California hospitals for their excellence in patient experience and recognized 332 hospitals nationwide.
 

The federal HCAHPS initiative gathers patient responses to 27 survey questions related to physician and nurse communication, speed of responsiveness, hospital cleanliness and noise levels, medication information, pain management and post-discharge care instructions. The survey, which is reported publically, is designed to collect data so health consumers can make objective and meaningful comparisons among hospitals on issues that are important to patients.
 

Fresno Heart & Surgical has also been recognized for its clinical excellence in bariatric surgery, carotid surgery and intensive care nursing. There are more than 6,000 hospital intensive care units in the United States, and only 315 of those had been recognized with a Beacon Award by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses between 2003 and 2011 when Fresno Heart & Surgical received its award.
 

Once again this year HealthGrades awarded a five-star rating to the hospital for carotid surgery, making that five years in a row and placing it among the top 15% in the nation.

The hospital has received HealthGrades Bariatric Surgery Excellence Award for four consecutive years, placing it among the top 5% in the nation for the weight-loss procedure.
 

“These recognitions for clinical quality confirm for patients our focus on medical excellence. We pride ourselves on providing exceptional surgical and post-surgical care.” said Holderman.

 

Erin Kennedy reported this story. She can be reached at ekennedy@CommunityMedical.org.