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National Hospital Quality Study Ranks St. Luke's Hospital Number One in Missouri for Critical Care

St. Luke's receives five-star ratings for critical care, pulmonary and gastrointestinal services.

October 14, 2009 - St. Luke's Hospital ranks number one in Missouri for critical care, according to a study issued this week by HealthGrades, a leading independent healthcare ratings organization.

The study identifies St. Luke's among the top five percent of hospitals nationally for critical care, pulmonary and gastrointestinal services. St. Luke's is the only hospital in Missouri named in the top five percent for critical care services, which includes treating severe conditions such as respiratory failure and sepsis.

The study results also name St. Luke's the best hospital in the St. Louis area for pulmonary care for the third year in a row. According to the study, St. Luke's has outstanding patient outcomes across several clinical areas, including five-star ratings for:

• Heart attack treatment
• Back and neck surgery with spinal fusion
• Gastrointestinal surgery
• Treatment of bowel obstruction
• Pneumonia treatment
• Treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Treatment of diabetic acidosis and coma
• Treatment of pulmonary embolism
• Treatment of sepsis
• Treatment of respiratory failure

"We're proud to continue to receive recognition for our ongoing commitment to quality patient care," said Gary Olson, St. Luke's Hospital president and chief executive officer. "These ratings are a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our physicians, nurses, clinicians, staff and volunteers."

St. Luke's has been the only Missouri hospital to receive the HealthGrades America's 50 Best Hospital designation for the past three years, ranking among the top one percent of hospitals nationally for overall clinical excellence. The latest HealthGrades study confirms that the quality of care St. Luke's provides to the St. Louis community continues.

About HealthGrades Ratings:
The HealthGrades twelfth annual Hospital Quality in America study, the largest annual report of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes from nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records.

Top-performing hospitals had dramatically lower mortality rates than other hospitals, according to the study. For the 17 procedures and diagnoses for which HealthGrades analyzed mortality rates, patients at top hospitals had a 72 percent lower chance of dying when compared with the lowest-performing hospitals and a 52 percent lower chance of dying when compared to the U.S. national average.

HealthGrades rates hospitals independently based on data that hospitals submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.

For 28 procedures and treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a five-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A three-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital's mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for apples-to-apples comparisons.

More information on the HealthGrades study, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com .

About St. Luke's Hospital:
St. Luke's Hospital, located in Chesterfield, Missouri, is a premier, regional healthcare provider specializing in individualized care. The 493-bed, not-for-profit hospital offers more than 60 specialty areas including cardiovascular care and surgery, cancer care, neurosurgery and neurology, orthopedics, maternity and other women's health, general medicine, outpatient services, pediatrics and comprehensive surgical services. For more information about St. Luke's Hospital, please visit
www.stlukes-stl.com/newsroom .

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