ChristianaCare Named One of America’s 50 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades for 2nd Year Running

Kunal Bhagat, M.D.

To Kunal Bhagat, M.D., FACP, SFHM, being a named a top hospital is in ChristianaCare’s DNA. In almost 30 years at ChristianaCare, Dr. Bhagat has seen the health system’s trademark excellence and innovation evolve, always to benefit patients and the community.

“We live our commitment to being exceptional today and even better tomorrow in the care we provide,” said Dr. Bhagat, chief of Hospital Medicine. “We are the ones charting the course and being recognized as a model.”

For its extraordinary level of care and innovation, ChristianaCare has earned Healthgrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award™ for the second consecutive year, and is again among the top 1% of more than 4,500 hospitals assessed nationwide for consistent, year-over-year superior clinical performance.

ChristianaCare’s Christiana Hospital and Wilmington Hospital are the only hospitals in Delaware to receive the America’s 50 Best Hospitals recognition.

Cheri Morrow, BSN, RN, CCRN (right), and physical therapist Daniel Leauby, MSPT, check patient charts in ChristianaCare’s Surgical Admissions Unit. ChristianaCare health professionals are relentless in their commitment to provide expert, high-quality, safe care to protect our community and help our neighbors achieve optimal health.

“We don’t rest on our success: We build on it,” Dr. Bhagat said. “Curiosity and innovation are embedded in our values and infuse the care we provide—not just in the type of care, but how and where we can best provide it—in our facilities, virtually or in patients’ homes.”

A forerunner in virtual health, ChristianaCare’s nationally acclaimed care management program CareVio has delivered better, more accessible care at lower costs since 2012. The health system has achieved six consecutive recognitions as “Most Wired” health system by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, which assesses how effectively health care organizations apply technologies to improve health and care in their communities.

Already robust well before the pandemic, ChristianaCare’s virtual monitoring program brought life-saving technologies right into people’s homes, keeping them and their communities safe during COVID-19. In 2021 ChristianaCare’s Center for Virtual Health monitored nearly 24,000 patients, including 15,000 people diagnosed with COVID-19.

The Center’s secure, text message-based monitoring program sent nearly 3 million COVID-19-related texts to patients in 2021, enabling patients to get monitoring and care from the comfort and safety of their homes. The health system also partnered with other employers to maintain safety in the workplace through daily employee COVID-19 monitoring and symptom checking. Our virtual COVID-19 practice brought the most up-to-date care to patients with COVID-19 during 4,000 visits.

Kert Anzilotti, M.D., MBA

“Even in the face of a COVID-19 pandemic that continues to rage on, we remain relentless in our commitment to provide expert, high-quality, safe care that protects our community and helps our neighbors achieve optimal health,” Kert Anzilotti, M.D., MBA, chief medical officer of ChristianaCare.

“These recognitions belong to our caregivers who continue to show up every day to follow through on their commitments to deliver exceptional care.”

In recognition of providing expert care, ChristianaCare also received these distinctions from Healthgrades:

  • America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Surgical Care™ in 2022.
  • America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Joint Replacement Award™ for 7 years in a row (2016-2022).
  • America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery Award™ for 9 years in a row (2014-2022).
  • America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Gastrointestinal Care Award™ for 11 years in a row (2012-2022).
  • America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Gastrointestinal Surgery Award™ for 11 years in a row (2012-2022).
  • America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care™ in 2022.
  • America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care™ in 2022.
  • Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ for 17 years in a row (2006-2022).
  • Five-Star Distinctions in Total Knee Replacement, Total Hip Replacement, Spinal Fusion Surgery, Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeries, Colorectal Surgeries, Treatment of Heart Failure, COPD, Pneumonia, Sepsis, Respiratory Failure and GI Bleed.

“The incredible teamwork we have with one other and the passion we have for caring for our patients are what differentiate us at ChristianaCare,” said Marla Sanabria, BSN, RN, CCRN, assistant nurse manager, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit.

Marla Sanabria, BSN, RN, CCRN

Since long before the pandemic, ChristianaCare’s Center for WorkLife Wellbeing has focused on the physical, emotional and mental well-being of caregivers by offering resources, services and training to support our health care professionals as they work to provide safe, effective care to our patients.

The Center has trained more than 70 volunteer peer supporters as well as offering psychological first aid training to 260 leaders to help them recognize early signs of distress and employ effective support strategies for their teams. In addition, the center offers regular rounding, support groups and promotion of 24/7 mental health services.

“When an organization clearly looks out for all its employees, it leads to staff providing their best when doing their work,” Dr. Bhagat said. “All of this manifests itself in what patients see and feel and experience.”

From 2018 to 2020, patients treated in hospitals achieving the Healthgrades Top 50 Hospitals recognition on average had a 21.7% lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that did not receive this award. This was the case as measured across 17 rated conditions and procedures where mortality is the outcome. According to Healthgrades, if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to hospitals achieving the Healthgrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award, 157,292 lives could potentially have been saved from 2018 to 2020.*

Joe Mahoney Jr.

“Being among America’s 50 Best Hospitals is the top achievement from Healthgrades,” said Brad Bowman, M.D., chief medical officer and head of data science at Healthgrades. “Hospitals like ChristianaCare are truly leading the nation and setting the standard for care delivery. We commend ChristianaCare for their dedication to patient care and committing themselves to keeping their communities safe.”

The feeling of pride for the Healthgrades recognition extends to caregivers in non-clinical jobs.

“This award is the culmination of a lot of hard work and great teamwork,” said Joseph Mahoney, a ChristianaCare electrician on the Facilities team. “I’m proud to be part of the team at ChristianaCare. All of us pulling together during the pandemic, in whatever job we’re in, really has made a difference, and it shows.”

More information on Healthgrades’ methodology is available on Healthgrades.com.

*Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2018 through 2020 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.

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