OLA earns recognition for health safety

Published 5:47 am Saturday, April 15, 2017

Our Lady of the Angels Hospital has attained the Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award, a designation that recognizes superior performance in hospitals that have prevented serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays. This distinction places Our Lady of the Angels Hospital among the top 10 percent of hospitals in the nation for its exceptional safety performance, as evaluated by Healthgrades.

Our Lady of the Angels Hospital was listed as one of just 15 hospitals in Louisiana to receive the prestigious Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award in a new study released by Healthgrades — the leading online resource for comprehensive physician and hospital information.

“Our team strives to uphold a constant culture of safety,” said Rene Ragas, president and CEO of Our Lady of the Angels Hospital. “We are honored to receive this prestigious recognition because providing safe and compassionate care is always our top priority. We are committed to delivering exceptional healthcare to the patients and communities we are privileged to serve.”

During the study period (2013-2015), Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient hospitals performed with excellence in providing safety for patients in the Medicare population, as measured by risk-adjusted patient safety indicator rates for 13 patient safety indicators defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

“Hospitals who have been recognized as Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients have minimized patient safety events and also surpassed expectations in preventing safety incidents,” said Dr. Brad Bowman, chief medical officer for Healthgrades. “We applaud these hospitals for their performance and for their organizational commitment to delivering high-quality care.”

If all hospitals as a group performed similarly to Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients, on average, 134,568 patient safety events could potentially have been avoided.

For more information about Healthgrades, to download a full copy of the report or to receive information about hospital and physician quality, visit online at www.healthgrades.com/quality.