Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Ranks Among the Nation’s Top Hospitals In Quality and Safety

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

New Brunswick, NJ – Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is one of the nation’s Top Hospitals for quality and safety, according to a survey conducted by the Leapfrog Group. Only 50 acute-care hospitals in the country, and three in New Jersey, were named to the Leapfrog Group’s first Top Hospitals list.

“The Leapfrog Group’s listing of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is another acknowledgement of our national leadership in patient safety,” said Clifton R. Lacy, MD, the hospital’s president and CEO. “This distinction recognizes Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s continued commitment to the highest quality care for our patients.”

The Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey evaluated more than 1,200 hospitals based on the hospitals’ awareness and actions regarding 30 “Safe Practices for Better Healthcare.” Endorsed by the National Quality Forum, the standards are divided into four categories: computerized physician order entry, intensive-care-unit physician staffing, high-risk treatments and Leapfrog safe practices.

Established in 2000, the Leapfrog group is made up of organizations that buy health benefits for employees, dependants and retirees. The group’s initiative is to achieve breakthrough improvements, or “leaps,” in the safety, quality and affordability of healthcare for all people in the United States.

This listing highlights Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital once again as one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers in patient safety and quality. Consumers Digest magazine last year ranked RWJUH among the top five hospitals in the nation for patient safety initiatives. The hospital was recently ranked as the sixth best hospital in the nation in a Harvard University study for The Commonwealth Fund that assessed treatment of heart attack, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. RWJUH was only the fourth hospital in the nation to win the Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence three times.

About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Selected as one of three hospitals nationwide to offer the world's first self-contained implantable artificial heart and named by Solucient as one of America’s top 15 teaching hospitals, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is a 600-bed academic medical center and the principal hospital of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ.

Robert Wood Johnson is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care in medicine. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care and women's and children's care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. The hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center and serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.

The hospital has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital was ranked number 26 in the nation for heart care according to U.S.News & World Report’s 2007 ranking of “America’s Best Hospitals,” as well as best in the state for Respiratory Disorders (#26) and Urology (#50), and among the nation’s best for Geriatrics (#40). The American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer has rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital among the nation's best comprehensive cancer centers. The Leapfrog Group rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the 50 exceptional U.S. hospitals, as published in Consumers Digest magazine. Harvard University researchers, in a study commissioned by The Commonwealth Fund, identified Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for clinical quality. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is also a recipient of the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence for 10 consecutive years.

Attention members of the media: For more information on this release, please contact the Department of Public Relations (732) 937-8521.


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