Union Hospital Named a 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ Recipient by Healthgrades

ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital has been recognized by Healthgrades as a 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient. This distinction places Union Hospital, part of ChristianaCare’s Cecil County Campus in Maryland, among the top 10% of all short-term acute care hospitals as evaluated by Healthgrades.

Union Hospital is one of only five hospitals in Maryland to receive the 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award™.

“At ChristianaCare, we commit to being exceptional today and even better tomorrow,” said Kert Anzilotti, M.D., MBA, FACR, system chief medical officer.

“We are proud that Healthgrades has recognized our deep commitment to excellence in patient safety. This award belongs to all our Union Hospital caregivers.”

“Among the most important ingredients to Union Hospital’s success in patient safety has been standardization of evidence-based practices,” said Chief Nursing Officer Joan Pirrung, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC.

“Examples include a standardized process for central line insertion that reduces the risk of central line infections, and standardized patient handling processes that help to prevent falls. Union Hospital also established a multidisciplinary committee that standardized caregivers’ approach to skin assessment to prevent pressure injuries.”

During the 2019-2021 study period, 164,592 potentially preventable patient safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals. Healthgrades’ analysis revealed that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

• 61.4% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.*
• 52.7% less likely to experience a collapsed lung resulting from a procedure or surgery in or around the chest than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.*
• 66.1% less likely to experience pressure sores or bedsores acquired in the hospital than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.*
• 67.3% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.*

Healthgrades noted that if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to the 2023 Patient Safety Award recipients then 95,880 patient safety events could have been avoided on average. Statistics are calculated from Healthgrades Patient Safety Ratings and Excellence Award methodology which is based primarily on AHRQ technical specifications (Version 2022.0.1) for MedPAR data years 2019 through 2021 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.

“Through our 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Awards, we seek to recognize hospitals that excel in providing top-quality care for their patients while preventing serious injuries during hospital stays,” said Brad Bowman, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Data Science at Healthgrades. “We are proud to name ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital as a 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient and look forward to their continued efforts to make patient safety a top priority.”

Consumers can visit healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and to access the complete methodology.