Published: July 08, 2009 06:44 am      

Memorial excels

Awards show hospital among nation's best

Two more awards for Memorial Medical Center offer a double dose of good news for our region.

The Johnstown hospital last week received a pair of honors from HealthGrades, an independent firm that compares patient outcomes among 1,500 hospitals of varying sizes in large and small communities.

Memorial received both Women’s Health and Maternity Care excellence awards, which placed the local medical center in the top

5 percent nationwide.

Memorial was the only hospital in Pennsylvania and one of 15 across the country to take both awards.

The honors prompted Dr. David Carlson, Memorial’s chief medical officer, to say: “This truly is big-time medicine in a small town.”

We agree.

Memorial also received HealthGrades’ Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence this year – the third straight year for that lofty designation.

We are blessed to have in our region many top-notch health-care agencies, led by Memorial Medical Center and the Conemaugh Health System.

HealthGrades said Memorial excels where it matters most: Keeping patients alive while treating their ailments.

The firm studied 13 million patient records in 16 areas of women’s and infants’ health. HealthGrades’ analysis said if all hospitals performed as well as Memorial in critical areas, thousands more lives would have been saved from 2007-09.

“There is still a mentality out there that bigger medical centers provide better care,” Carlson said. “I think the HealthGrades excellence awards prove otherwise.”

Memorial President Steven Tucker said that while the awards are big news for administrators, doctors, nurses and other staffers at the hospital, the recognition is even better news for folks who turn to Memorial for treatment.

“What we really care about should be what this means to our patients,” Tucker said. “Patients at Memorial are less likely to die from complications.”

Congratulations to Memorial and the Conemaugh system.