Indiana's best hospitals: top 10 percent nationally in a dozen specialties.

• Author: Held, Shari
• Position: HOSPITALS

HEALTHGRADES, THE nation's leading independent provider of health-care ratings, recently announced its Excellence Awards for 2009. Quite a few Indiana hospitals made it into the top tier, which represents the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide in each specialty area.

Earlier this year Community Hospital in Munster was named to HealthGrades "America's 50 Best Hospitals" list, putting it in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide. The rating was based on superior clinical performance across 27 different medical procedures and diagnoses over an eight-year period. Community Hospital in Munster is the only Indiana hospital to achieve this national ranking.

"Northwest Indiana should take great pride in Community Hospital being named to America's 50 Best Hospitals," says Donald Fesko, Administrator of Community Hospital. "This record of outstanding care is a real credit to the hard work and dedication of the community that built this hospital, and of the doctors, hospital staff and volunteers who have hard-wired excellence into everything they do."

Here is a partial list of Indiana's top ranked hospitals for 2009 by specialty and a look at how they achieve excellence.

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Critical Care. Three Indiana hospitals made the top tier in the area of critical care for 2009: Clarian Health Partners (including Indiana University Medical Center) in Indianapolis, Community Hospital in Munster and St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital.

"Indiana University Hospital and Methodist Hospital have had a long tradition of providing critical care to the sickest of the sick in the state of Indiana," says Dr. Michael Niemeier, medical director for the Adult Critical Care Unit at Methodist, part of Clarian. "But more than tradition, this is something we are wired to do."

Clarian has approximately 200 critical care beds in its downtown campuses, and specialists in areas such as intensive care medicine, trauma surgery, anesthesiology and radiology at the hospitals 24/7.

"We are unique in that sort of service," Niemeier says. "And we continue to try to improve those services by bringing on new facilities and new equipment."

One example of the latest technology is ePartners--a virtual intensive care unit (ICU) or command center staffed round the clock by highly experienced critical care nurses and physicians. The system, one of only two in the state, actively monitors patients at both the downtown and suburban hospitals (Clarian North and Clarian West).

"Being rated as a top performer in critical care by HealthGrades is a very positive reminder that reinforces that we are doing the right thing," says Jo Ann Brooks, vice president of Quality for Clarian Health Partners. "But it is just what we do every day."

Gastrointestinal Care and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Community Hospital in Munster, Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services in New Albany and St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital were cited for excellence in the area of gastrointestinal care for 2008.

"We are very dedicated to digestive health and developing a center of excellence around digestive diseases," says Rex McKinney, executive director of Clinical Services at St. Vincent Indianapolis. "About three years ago we created a Digestive Health Center within the hospital, dedicated to digestive health, digestive diseases and gastrointestinal care. We staffed it with a multidisciplinary group of physicians focused on GI. The collaborative approach to clinical care is really the key to our success."

Also factoring into the equation are board-certified physicians and surgeons supported by an excellent nursing component and other support staff, participation in research and research activities and the latest technology.

McKinney also notes a strong emphasis on patient safety under the leadership of Medical Staff President Dr. Bob Robison and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dan LeGrand. "They are very focused on patient safety and having high quality outcomes here at St. Vincent. The HealthGrades award is simply a validation of the path we want to be on. We'll keep striving to be excellent and continue to be in the top tier of providers for GI medical treatment."

Community Hospital in Munster and Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services were also cited for excellence in the area of gastrointestinal surgery.

"This award shows that the hospital is well taken care of in this area," says Dr. Julie Hutchinson, a surgeon who works at Floyd Memorial. "It's good to be able to demonstrate to patients that all aspects of a disease can be cared for at that institution. We have a very good comprehensive approach. The physicians who work in those areas work well together, communicate well together and care for patients in a very expedient fashion."

Over the past two years Floyd Memorial has begun performing its own reflux assessments on a more regular basis and has started utilizing less-invasive...