One of America's Best

One of America's Best
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The recognition by Fortune/IBM Watson Health demonstrates Wooster Community Hospital’s ongoing commitment to prioritize patient-centered care, particularly during this very disruptive and challenging time.

                        

Having been recognized as one of America’s 100 best hospitals by Fortune/IBM Watson Health for the third consecutive year, Wooster Community Hospital may just be the best performing medical facility in the country, reasoned Bill Sheron president and CEO.

“This year, we were ranked at the very top of all ‘Medium Sized Community Hospitals,’ which is the largest and the most competitive of all of the five categories considered,” Sheron said.

This marks the sixth time Wooster Community Hospital has earned the Top 100 distinction from IBM Watson Health. IBM Watson Health said it identified the top hospitals from a rigorous evaluation of 3,134 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals in the U.S. The annual list recognizes excellence in clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, patient experience and financial health. IBM Watson Health said it established the list to help identify best practices that may help other healthcare organizations to achieve consistent, balanced and sustainable high performance. The annual list was unveiled on Fortune.com in June.

“Being the Number One hospital in our size category is remarkable,” Sheron said. “We believe this is the most objective, balanced and prestigious quality award any hospital can win. It considers not only how strong your performance is in comparison to other U.S. hospitals, but it also demands that you continue to perform better over time. It’s a team award that we are all proud to achieve. The fact that we have now won this award a total of six times – including the last three years in a row – is a clear and resounding testament to the work done by our outstanding staff and our continuing commitment to improving patient care.”

To earn the award, hospitals are judged on performance metrics like how quickly they get people through the emergency room, survival rates, patient complications, healthcare associated infections, 30-day mortality and 30-day hospital-wide readmission rates, length of stay, inpatient expenses, profitability, and ratings from patients.

“Those are all things that we grade ourselves on all the time.”

Wooster Community’s category leading score was an improvement over last year, Sheron said.

“Our aggregate score was in the 99.9th percentile,” he said. “Getting better year over year can be a challenge when we’re already getting the highest scores in the country. We feel like we’re at the top of our game.” The IBM Watson/Fortune Top 100 hospitals were divided into the following five categories:

• Major teaching

• Teaching

• Large community

• Medium community

• Small community

Sheron said the recognition demonstrates Wooster Community Hospital’s ongoing commitment to prioritize patient-centered care, particularly during this very disruptive and challenging time.

“Hospitals, health systems and the dedicated clinicians and staff who work at these organizations have emerged as true heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic, and we are grateful to be able to recognize these extraordinary leaders at this time,” said Kyu Rhee, M.D., M.P.P., vice president and chief health officer, IBM Watson Health. “From small community hospitals to major teaching hospitals, organizations on this list demonstrate a relentless commitment to high value, patient-centered care and innovation. It is clear that the Covid-19 crisis will be a catalyst for reinvention, and we believe these top performing hospitals are positioned to emerge stronger and smarter out of this crisis.”

Wooster Community Hospital’s Top 100 distinction is something the whole community can be proud of, Sheron said.
“People in our community can be confident that when they need medical care, they have a really good hospital to go to,” he said. “We’re not a large, big-city hospital, but we can handle more than 90 percent of all medical needs.”

Wooster Community Hospital is a 172-bed, full-service and acute-care facility. You can learn more about Wooster Community Hospital at WoosterHospital.org, or by calling 330-263-8100. Wooster Community Hospital is located at 1761 Beall Avenue, in Wooster.


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