JACKSON, Miss. – The University of Mississippi MedicalCenter is listed among the 100 top hospitals in the countryas designated by Thomson Healthcare, a national health careinformation company.
The “100 Top Hospitals National Benchmarks for Success”study identifies the nation’s top performing hospitalsusing the two most recent years of data. Top performers areselected from more than 3,000 hospitals across the countryand divided into five categories for evaluation. TheMedical Center is included in the major teaching hospitalscategory – the only Mississippi hospital to make the Top100 for 2007.
“It’s not an honor you apply for; that’s what makes itspecial,” said Dr. Will Ferniany, CEO of UniversityHospitals and Health System. “Being a Top 100 Hospital is areflection of the great physicians and staff at Universityof Mississippi Health Care, who provide high-quality careto our patients. It also reflects that we are anefficiently run, high-quality hospital system.”
The recognition is wonderful for the health system, said Dr. Dan Jones, vice chancellor for health affairs.
“I am grateful to Will Ferniany, other University ofMississippi Health Care leaders, our entire staff, andphysician faculty for the hard work that has gone into thisrecognition,” he said. “I am proud and grateful that nowMississippians can receive care at one of America’s Top 100Hospitals.”
Gov. Haley Barbour said the announcement “furtherdemonstrates that our commitment to provide UMMC withappropriate resources and funding over the past four yearshas helped Mississippi’s premier research and teachingmedical center gain recognition as one of the nation’sfinest health care facilities. I congratulate UMMC’soutstanding leadership and staff on this tremendousachievement.”
Ferniany and the UMHC are featured in the latest edition ofModern Healthcare magazine for being among the 28 newcomersto the list.
Thomson 100 Top Hospitals national award honorsorganizations that rank at or above the top 90 percent onhospital-wide performance when compared with its nationalpeers. The hospital is scored on eight performancemeasures, including good patient outcomes, improved patientsafety, efficient hospital operations and effectivecommunity service. Thomson uses public Medicare data, sothat all hospitals can be measured equally.
“Employers, health plans, and hospitals need to take notethat we have entered a new phase in driving transformationof the health care industry,” said Jean Chenoweth, seniorvice president in the Center for Healthcare Improvement atThomson Healthcare. “Hospitals setting new levels ofpatient safety are those with the highest balanced scoresacross quality, efficiency and financial performance.”
The recognition is the product of a focused effort to cutcosts, improve quality and increase revenue, whiledemonstrating to employees that they work in some of thebest hospitals in the country, Ferniany said.
“We set being named a Top 100 Hospital as one of our goals20 months ago, and I am proud of our physicians and staffthat made this a reality,” he said.