Good Sam Hospital Earns Top Honors

Good Samaritan Hospital has been named one of the nation’s top medical facilities in the treatment of heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.

Good Sam is the only hospital in Santa Clara County to earn the recognition, according to hospital spokeswoman Leslie Kelsay.

The Joint Commission (TJC), the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America, recognized Good Sam on data it studied that showed the hospital uses top processes to improve the care of critical health conditions, Kelsay said.

Only 405 out of 3,099 hospitals in the country met TJC’s rigorous criteria based on key quality measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance, Kelsay added.

This is the first year of the recognition program, and TJC used data reported for 2010, she said.

Good Sam CEO Dr. Paul Beaupré said, “This recognition reflects the dedication of the hospital team and our physicians to provide high quality compassionate care that reflects what we learn from evidence-based medicine.

"What’s most impressive about this honor is that you can’t apply for the award, you can’t fancy up your performance with a great presentation, there’s no mixing of opinion with fact—it’s all about what you do day in and day out, hour by hour, in patient care.”

To be recognized as a top performer on key quality measures, a hospital must first achieve a composite performance of 95 percent or higher for all accountability measures. The hospital must then meet or exceed a 95 percent threshold for every single accountability measure for which they report data.

Good Sam was recognized for achieving these thresholds for all four conditions: Heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.

“Today, the public expects transparency in the reporting of performance at the hospitals where they receive care, and The Joint Commission is shining a light on the top performing hospitals such as Good Samaritan Hospital that have achieved excellence on a number of vital measures of quality care,” said Dr. Mark R. Chassin, president of TJC.

In addition to being included in TJC’s annual report, “Improving America’s Hospitals,” Good Sam will be recognized on The Joint Commission’s Quality Check website, qualitycheck.org.