According to the Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study issued Oct. 15, 2007, Mills-Peninsula Health Services ranks among the top five percent in the nation for treatment of stroke, critical care, general surgery, overall gastrointestinal (GI) services, GI surgery and GI medical treatment. The study, the largest of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes at virtually all of the nation's 5,000 hospitals from 2004 through 2006.

The study also found that Mills-Peninsula Health Services is:

• Recipient of the HealthGrades Stroke Care Excellence Award™
  
• Recipient of the HealthGrades Critical Care Excellence Award™
  
• Recipient of the HealthGrades General Surgery Excellence Award™
  
• Recipient of the HealthGrades Gastrointestinal Care Excellence Award™ Recipient of the HealthGrades Gastrointestinal Surgery Excellence Award™
  
• Ranked Among the Top 10 (#7) in the state for vascular surgery
  
• Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Heart Failure
  
• Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Community Acquired Pneumonia
  
• Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Sepsis
  
• Five-Star Rated for Appendectomy

"We're happy to receive yet another validation that consumer confidence in Mills-Peninsula is well placed," Chief Executive Officer Bob Merwin said. "Credit goes to the doctors, nurses and staff who are responsible for earning us this recognition."

The Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study identifies key trends in the quality of hospital-based care. HealthGrades researchers analyzed Medicare discharges from virtually every U.S. hospital between 2004 and 2006. Risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates were calculated and hospitals were assigned a 1-star (poor), 3-star (as expected), or 5-star (best) quality rating for 28 diagnoses and procedures from heart failure to hip replacement to pneumonia.

"Consumers routinely use quality ratings to comparison shop for cars, appliances and travel accommodations," said Sarah Loughran, HealthGrades executive vice president. "Our research provides patients with the information they need to make informed decisions about where to seek medical care, a decision that could mean the difference between life and death."

"It is important for area residents to know that they can find high-quality treatment of stroke, critical care, general surgery, overall GI services, GI surgery and GI medical treatment care at Mills-Peninsula Health Services," Loughran added.

Among the study's key findings:

• Gaps persist between the "best" and the "worst" hospitals across all procedures and conditions studied. Five-star rated hospitals had statistically significantly lower risk-adjusted mortality across all three years studied.
  
  
• Across all procedures and conditions studied, there was an approximate 71 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital.
  
  
• Across all procedures and conditions studied, there was an approximate 52 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to the U.S. hospital average.

The 2008 HealthGrades ratings for all hospitals nationwide are available, free of charge, on the organization's consumer Web site, www.healthgrades.com. More than 3 million individuals and employees of some of the nation's largest employers and health plans visit HealthGrades each month to access quality information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians. HealthGrades also provides consumers and payers with detailed assessments of hospitals' patient-safety outcomes, based on indicators developed by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.