(ELKTON, Md. – July 25, 2023)

ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital has been recognized by Healthgrades as a 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient.

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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 F. 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. 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.

Safe care saves lives

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 bed sores 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 nonrecipient 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.*

“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.

*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.

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About ChristianaCare

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country’s most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, three hospitals (1,430 beds), a freestanding emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women’s health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute.

ChristianaCare is nationally recognized as a great place to work, rated by Forbes as the 2nd best health system for diversity and inclusion, and the 29th best health system to work for in the United States, and by IDG Computerworld as one of the nation’s Best Places to Work in IT. ChristianaCare is rated by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals and continually ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and other national quality ratings. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With its groundbreaking Center for Virtual Health and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care.

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