SEATTLE, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwest Hospital & Medical Center today announced that the Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study, has ranked it among the top 10% in the nation for stroke care services and has given the Northwest Hospital Stroke Program a five-star rating. Based on the study's findings, HealthGrades, the nation's leading independent ratings company, has awarded Northwest Hospital its Stroke Care Excellence Award, a recognition the hospital has earned each year since 2005.
Also known as a brain attack, stroke is the No. 3 cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer, and the No. 1 cause of long-term disability. An estimated 700,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year, including more than 160,000 deaths.
The Northwest Hospital Stroke Program is designed to improve recovery rates for stroke patients through rapid response, a team approach, a standardized plan of care, family support, rehabilitation, and ongoing stroke education. Patients receive continuous, quality care from their initial steps through the Emergency Department doors through multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation at the hospital's Center for Medical Rehabilitation.
The Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study is the largest of its kind, analyzing patient outcomes at virtually all of the nation's 5,000 hospitals over the years 2004, 2005 and 2006. According to the study, patients at five-star hospitals like Northwest Hospital have, on average, a 71 percent lower chance of dying than those treated at one-star hospitals for stroke and for 17 other procedures and conditions the study analyzed.
"Our research shows that while the overall quality of hospital care in America is improving, the gap between the best-performing hospitals and the worst persists," said Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades' chief medical officer and author of the study. "This persistent gap makes it imperative that anyone planning to be admitted to a hospital do their homework and seek out highly rated facilities."
The 2008 HealthGrades ratings for Northwest Hospital and all other hospitals nationwide are available at http://www.healthgrades.com/. HealthGrades also provides quality information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians, as well as detailed assessments of hospitals' patient-safety outcomes, based on indicators developed by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
About Northwest Hospital & Medical Center
Opened in 1960, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center (http://www.nwhospital.org/) is a full-service, non-profit community hospital located minutes north of downtown Seattle. With 281 licensed beds, more than 1,600 employees and all private rooms, it offers some of the most innovative, technologically advanced medical care available. Major clinical programs and services include: emergency services; critical care; cardiac care; stroke center; cancer care; childbirth services; bariatric surgery; sports medicine; medical rehabilitation; neurosciences; diagnostic imaging; geropsychiatric center; Gamma Knife(R) Center; laboratory services; and education and wellness programs, among others. For more information about Northwest Hospital, call 206-364-0500 or 206-633-4636 for the Physician Referral Line.
Northwest Hospital and Medical Center
