Lehigh Regional Medical Center, a member of Prime Healthcare, has been named to the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals® list. This is the first time Lehigh Regional Medical Center has been recognized with this honor as one of the top-performing Hospitals in the U.S. The annual list was published on April 27, 2021, by Fortune.
Lehigh Regional Medical Center is one of only two small community hospitals in Florida to receive this prestigious recognition. IBM Watson Health has identified the top hospitals from a rigorous evaluation of 2,675 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 established the list to help identify best practices that may help other healthcare organizations achieve consistent, balanced, and sustainable high performance.
“We are proud of all of the hospitals, health systems, and their dedicated clinicians and staff included among the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals,” said Irene Dankwa-Mullan, MD, MPH, Chief Health Equity Officer and Deputy Chief Health Officer at 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. They also recognize the importance of contributing to the health of their communities and we applaud them for their programs that help provide equitable quality care and address health disparities.”
This year’s ranking of top hospitals also introduces a measure of hospitals’ contributions to community health with a focus on equity developed by a team of experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and the Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. For the ranking, hospitals were surveyed across three components: 1) assessing hospital contributions to community health as a provider of critical services for community health and preventive care; 2) identifying ways that hospitals contribute to community health as a community partner teaming up with local organizations to implement critical programs, and 3) focusing on ways that hospitals promote community health through their practices as anchor institutions supporting local economic and social progress. Hospitals received credit for meeting a certain number of best-practice standards in each component as part of the survey scoring and the new measure led to a change in ranking for more than one-third of the 100 hospitals.
Lehigh Regional Medical Center is one of 46 hospitals that are members of Prime Healthcare, an award-winning health system whose hospitals have been recognized 58 times as “100 Top Hospitals” by Fortune/IBM Watson Health. “Prime’s mission is to bring compassionate care to communities, expand access, promote health equity by bringing care to those most in need and improve the health of all we serve,” said Sunny Bhatia, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Prime Healthcare. “This national recognition for Lehigh Regional Medical Center reflects Prime’s unique ability to save community hospitals and ensure they deliver the highest quality of care. Lehigh Regional Medical Center’s mission has been especially critical during the worldwide pandemic. We are committed to emerging better and stronger and are grateful to Lehigh Regional Medical Center physicians, nurses, and staff who dedicate themselves to proving exceptional care.”
“We are very grateful that Prime Healthcare purchased Lehigh Regional Medical Center because they have given us the opportunity to serve our community with clinically excellent care and service,” states Cheryl McIntire, CEO/CFO of Lehigh Regional Medical Center. “I appreciate how hard our staff and physicians have worked to earn this recognition, and we are committed to continuing to serve our community and all those who walk through our doors.”
Lehigh Regional Medical Center is accredited by The Joint Commission with the Gold Seal of Approval as an 88-bed acute care facility. The state-of-the-art hospital provides specialty care serves that include Emergency Services, Cardiology, Critical Care, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Nephrology, Orthopedics, and Pathology, delivering patient-centered healthcare with dignity and respect for all.
This recognition demonstrates Lehigh Regional Medical Center’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing patient-centered care. According to IBM Watson Health, as compared to similar hospitals, the hospitals included on the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals list had better results on key clinical and operational performance indicators. These include survival rates, patient complications, healthcare-associated infections, 30-day mortality and 30-day hospital-wide readmission rates, length of stay, throughput in emergency departments, inpatient expenses, profitability, and ratings from patients.
For more information, visit http://www.100tophospitals.com/.
About Lehigh Regional Medical Center
Lehigh Regional Medical Center, a member of Prime Healthcare, is an 88-bed hospital with a dedicated team of employees, nurses and physicians that provide quality and compassionate care to Eastern Lee County and Hendry County. More than 75 physicians are members of Lehigh Regional Medical Center’s Medical Staff. They provide major medical and surgical specialties. Lehigh Regional Medical Center is actively involved in community organizations, special events, school system activities, and charitable causes. Visit us at www.lehighregional.com
About the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals® List
The Fortune/IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals list is determined using independent and objective research to analyze hospital performance. Organizations do not apply or pay for this honor or pay to promote their award. Award-winning hospitals and health systems serve as a model of excellence for the industry.
About IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals® Program
The IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals Program’s annual studies result in the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals list, Fortune/IBM Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals list, and IBM Watson Health 15 Top Health Systems list. Organizations do not apply or pay for this honor or pay to promote their award. Award-winning hospitals and health systems serve as a model of excellence for the industry. Visit http://www.100tophospitals.com/ for more information.
About IBM Watson Health
IBM Watson Health is a data, analytics, and technology partner for the health industry. Supported by the innovation of IBM and intelligence of Watson, we are committed to helping build smarter health ecosystems. Through the combination of our deep industry expertise in health, data and analytics, actionable insights, and reputation for security and trust, Watson Health is working together with its clients and partners to help them achieve simpler processes, better care insights, faster breakthroughs, and improved experiences for people around the world. Learn more at ibm.com/Watson/health.
