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Independent Quality Study Rates Beebe Among Best for Orthopaedic Outcomes

10/16/06

Beebe Medical Center announced today it has received five-star ratings for clinical excellence in Total Knee Replacement, Total Hip Replacement, Partial Hip Replacement and Spinal Fusion, according to a comprehensive study released by HealthGrades, the nation's leading healthcare ratings company.

Beebe Medical Center not only is five-star rated in each of these orthopedic procedures, but the exceptional quality of care provided at Beebe Medical Center continues to place it among the best hospitals in the state and the nation for orthopaedic services. According to the 2007 HealthGrades' ratings, Beebe Medical Center is ranked in the top 5% of all hospitals nationally for overall orthopaedic services.

The exceptional clinical outcomes that determine these ratings have placed Beebe Medical Center at the top of orthopaedic care for the entire Delmarva Peninsula, ranking it #1 for Overall Orthopaedic Services. Beebe was also rated best in Delaware for Joint Replacement Surgery and for Spinal Surgery. HealthGrades also awarded Beebe Medical Center with the prestigious Five-Star rating for: total knee replacement, hip fracture repair, partial hip repair, and partial hip replacement.

There are many great hospitals around the country, and we are honored to have earned this recognition from HealthGrades, said Jeffery M. Fried, Beebe Medical Center President and CEO. Our goal is to continually strive to reach and maintain excellence in healthcare. This rating reflects the dedication of everyone in the medical center family - our medical staff, our employees, our board of directors and our volunteers in reaching this goal.


Marge White, Vice President of Patient Care Services at Beebe Medical Center, said that the rating also reflects Beebe Medical Center's focus on the patient.

We know that a strong orthopaedic program is important to our community, especially to our aging population where these procedures can make such a difference to a person's quality of life, she said. Our orthopaedic team at Beebe Medical Center has worked together to make our orthopedic program great, one that brings excellence throughout the continuum of care.

As part of its ninth annual Hospital Quality in America Study, HealthGrades independently analyzed more than 5,000 hospitals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for its 2007 ratings, objectively assessing their clinical outcomes and quality. The 40 million hospitalization records utilized in the assessment are publicly available and licensed from the federal government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The HealthGrades ratings take into account varying degrees of patient severity from hospital to hospital and measure whether patient outcomes for each of more than two dozen procedures and diagnoses are better than expected (5-Star), as expected (3-Star) or worse than expected (1-Star).

HealthGrades objectively assesses and rates hospital performance in order to help consumers make better and more informed healthcare choices, explained Samantha Collier, M.D., HealthGrades vice president of medical affairs. With consumers having a greater stake in their healthcare purchasing decisions, it's important for them to know that there is a tremendous difference in clinical quality outcomes between hospitals.

In the state of Delaware, Beebe Medical Center stands out notably in terms of delivering quality care for its total knee, total hip, partial hip and spine surgery patients, Collier added. Patients, families and employers in Beebe Medical Center's primary service area and surrounding areas truly have access to orthopaedic care that is among the best in the nation.

The 2007 HealthGrades ratings for all hospitals nationwide are available, free of charge, on the organization's award-winning consumer Web site, located at www.healthgrades.com. More than three million individuals and employees of 125 major employers and health plans visit HealthGrades each month to access quality information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians. HealthGrades also provides consumers and payers with detailed assessments of hospitals' patient-safety outcomes, based on indicators developed by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.


About Beebe Medical Center
Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit community medical center with a mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health with the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit us online at www.beebemed.org.


About HealthGrades
HealthGrades (Nasdaq:HGRD) is the leading healthcare ratings company, providing ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers, corporations, health plans and hospitals. Millions of consumers and hundreds of the nation's largest employers, health plans and hospitals rely on HealthGrades' independent ratings to make healthcare decisions based on the quality of care. More information on the company can be found at http://www.healthgrades.com.