At a time when hospital safety is front and center in the minds of our friends and neighbors, Coliseum Medical Centers and Coliseum Northside Hospital in Macon and Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin have received the Healthgrades 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award^TM. This distinction places among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety data as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems.

“Our number one priority is and has always been the safety of our patients,” said Dr. George Harrison, Chief Medical Officer at Fairview Park Hospital and Interim Chief Medical Officer for Coliseum Health System. “You’re hearing a lot about hospital safety in the news. People need to know that they are safe coming to our hospitals for surgery or during a medical emergency. It can be very dangerous to delay care.”

Healthgrades found that patients treated in hospitals that earned the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:

48.3% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest.

54.4% less likely to experience a hip fracture following surgery.

66.8% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital.

63% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital.

Healthgrades also determined that if all hospitals in the country performed at the level of award earners for each of the 13 patient safety indicators they studied, more than 110,00 patient safety events could have been avoided.

“Consumers might not know that information around patient safety is readily available and should be considered when researching healthcare options,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “We commend the recipients of the 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award for their dedication to providing excellent care for their patients.”