French Hospital Again One of Nation's Top 100

French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC) is elated to announce that it has been named one of the Nation's 100 Top Hospitals® for a third time in a row by Truven Health Analytics, a leading provider of information solutions to improve the cost and quality of health care.

The award winners represent the highest national standards in hospital care and management. 

 “It is a truly great achievement to be named one of the nation’s Top 100 for three years in a row,” says FHMC President and CEO Alan Iftiniuk. “This honor is testament to our passionate and strongly committed team of caregivers, physicians, support staff, and professional managers. I am proud of our sustained efforts to continuously improve the level of commitment and excellence we offer at French Hospital Medical Center.” 

Modern Healthcare, in conjunction with Truven Health Analytics, yesterday released its findings and identified the Nation’s 100 top U.S. hospitals based on their overall performance. The Truven Health Analytics 100 Top Hospitals® study evaluates performance in the following areas: mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average patient stay, expenses, profitability, patient satisfaction, adherence to clinical standards of care, and post-discharge mortality. The study has been conducted annually since 1993.

The study shows that if all hospitals in the United States performed at the level of this year's winners:

• More than 104,000 additional lives could be saved.
• Nearly 48,400 additional patients could be complication free.
• $2 billion in inpatient costs could be saved.
• The average patient stay would decrease by half a day.

This year, Truven Health Analytics has added new core measures for the emergency department, stroke care, and blood clot prevention. Even with these updated measures providing a new challenge, FHMC has exceeded the standards for care.  

“The 2016 100 Top Hospitals award winners represent the highest national standards in hospital care and management. They set the benchmarks for peers around the country to follow,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president at Truven Health Analytics.  “Hospitals in three out of the five report groups actually reduced overall expense year over year, while improving patient outcomes – exactly the results that the entire industry hopes to attain.”

The study chose the winners after reviewing public information – Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital compare website. More information on this study and other 100 Top Hospitals research is available at 100tophospitals.com.

Along with the designation of being a Top 100 Hospital, this acknowledgment comes on the  heels of 17 recent Healthgrades awards including being among the Top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety for three years in a row, and included in the 2015 edition of the Becker's Hospital Review list of "100 Great Community Hospitals" in the United States.

About French Hospital Medical Center

French Hospital Medical Center, located in San Luis Obispo, California, has been named one of the Nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics, and is rated among the top hospitals in the nation for cardiac, orthopedic and GI services. French Hospital has achieved prestigious designation as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission. The Copeland, Forbes, and Rossi Cardiac Care Center provides the latest innovative cardiac and imaging technology. The hospital is home to the unique Hearst Cancer Resource Center offering free education, resources and support to cancer patients and their families. In addition, an expansion and modernization project is underway at French Hospital, including the new Copeland Health Education Pavilion, which provides the community access to comprehensive health care education resources free of charge.   French is a Dignity Health Central Coast hospital which also includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital in Arroyo Grande, CA, Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, CA, St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, CA and St. John’s Pleasant Valley in Camarillo, CA. Dignity Health Central Coast is an integrated network of top quality hospitals, physicians from the most prestigious medical schools, and comprehensive outpatient services including primary care offices, premier ambulatory surgery centers, technologically-advanced laboratories and imaging centers and a full service home health agency; all recognized for quality, safety and service.  Each hospital is supported by an active philanthropic Foundation to help meet the growing health care needs of our communities.