Saint Michael’s Medical Center ranks among the Top 5 in New Jersey for pulmonary care according to a new analysis released by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting doctors and patients.
“We take pride in being recognized among the very best hospitals in New Jersey for pulmonary care,” said Saint Michael’s CEO Alan Sickles, MD. “Our patients, many of whom live with chronic respiratory conditions, can feel confident knowing they are getting the highest quality care available in New Jersey at Saint Michael’s.”
Pulmonary care is the treatment of respiratory tract diseases—including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, bronchitis, emphysema, and other complex lung diseases.
“Being recognized as one of the Top 5 in New Jersey for pulmonary care is a tremendous achievement that speaks to Saint Michael’s ongoing commitment to high-quality care,” said Healthgrades Chief Medical Officer Brad Bowman, MD, who is also the organization’s head of data science.
“Hospitals receiving a #5 ranking in their state have a proven track record of delivering superior outcomes for the patients in their community,” Dr. Bowman said.
To determine this year’s State Ranking recipients, Healthgrades evaluated clinical performance for nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide focusing on 18 key specialties across a mix of chronic, urgent, and surgical specialty areas.
Hospitals recognized by Healthgrades as among the top 5 in their state are providing patients with consistently better-than expected clinical outcomes.
For the 2023 Analysis, Healthgrades compared state ranking recipients as a group, to all other qualified hospitals, as a group, and found that patients treated from 2019-2021 at hospitals receiving a state ranking for pulmonary care have, on average a 53.4% lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that were not state ranked for pulmonary care.
For patients treated from 2019-2021 at hospitals that did not receive a state ranking for Pulmonary Care are, on average 2.15 times more likely to die than if they were treated in hospitals that were state ranked for pulmonary care.*
Earlier this year, Saint Michael’s, a member of Prime Healthcare, received Healthgrade’s Excellence Award for coronary intervention and pulmonary care as well as Healthgrades Five Star ratings in valve surgery, coronary interventional procedures, treatment of pneumonia and treatment of diabetic emergencies.
Saint Michael’s has also received the Patient Safety Excellence Award from Healthgrades for each of the past four years. The hospital also received an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national distinction recognizes the Newark hospital’s achievements in protecting hospital patients from preventable harm and errors.
Saint Michael’s is the only hospital in Essex County to receive an A from Leapfrog. It was the sixth A awarded to the hospital since 2018.
Our entire staff deserves recognition for this award because it signifies an ongoing commitment to quality and safety,” Dr. Sickles said. “With respiratory diseases like COVID-19 and flu still a very real threat to our community, I am proud that our team is recognized as one of the the best in the state.”
Consumers can visit healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and access the complete methodology here.
*Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2019 through 2021 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.