Bay Area trauma designation upgrade

Today, Corpus Christi Medical Center (CCMC) announced that it has been recognized by Healthgrades as a 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ recipient. This distinction places CCMC among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals as evaluated by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting patients and providers. In 2022, Healthgrades also awarded CCMC the America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Joint Replacement Award™, American’s Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery Award™ and America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Surgical Excellence Award™.

“We are proud to have been recognized by Healthgrades as one of the top hospitals in the nation for patient safety,” says Eric Evans, chief executive officer of Corpus Christi Medical Center. “Patient safety is our top priority and this recognition validates our ongoing efforts for healthcare excellence in the Coastal Bend.” 

Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance using objective quality measures including clinical outcomes and patient safety, as well as patient experience. During the study period (2018 through 2020), 170,231 potentially preventable patient safety events occurred among Medicare patients in U.S. hospitals.* Healthgrades found that just four patient safety indicators accounted for 74% of all patient safety events: hip fracture due to an in-hospital fall, collapsed lung resulting from a procedure/surgery, pressure or bed sores acquired in-hospital, and catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in-hospital. Healthgrades also found that patients treated in hospitals receiving the Healthgrades 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ were, on average:

• 55.8% less likely to experience an in-hospital fall resulting in hip fracture, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
• 52.6% less likely to experience a collapsed lung resulting from a procedure or surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
• 66.2% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals*
• 65.8% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital, than patients treated at nonrecipient hospitals*

“We strive to deliver the best care possible for patients who depend upon us to help improve their health and quality of life, said Dean Hommer, MD, chief medical officer at Corpus Christi Medical Center. “Independent review of our care, from organizations like Healthgrades, provides our patients transparency of the care we deliver and helps Corpus Christi Medical Center provide world-class care to the communities we serve.”

 “Through our 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Awards, we seek to recognize hospitals that excel in providing top-quality care for their patients while preventing serious injuries during hospital stays,” said Brad Bowman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and head of Data Science, Healthgrades. “We are proud to name Corpus Christi Medical Center as a 2022 Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient and look forward to their continued efforts to make patient safety a priority.”

When it comes to choosing healthcare, quality saves lives, which is why Healthgrades is committed to delivering the most scientifically accurate and comprehensive information about doctors and hospitals — with data insights not available anywhere else. To that end, it's important for consumers to know that if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to the Healthgrades Patient Safety Award Recipients, on average, 100,189 patient safety events could have been avoided.* 

Healthgrades evaluates hospital quality for conditions and procedures based solely on clinical outcomes to help consumers understand, compare and evaluate hospital performance. Consumers can visit healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and access the complete methodology here.