Press release
From Mission Health:
Mission Health’s Heart Center Receives 12th ‘3 Star’ Rating From Society of Thoracic Surgeons for Top-tier Heart Surgery Center
Asheville, N.C. (May 15, 2013) – Mission Heart has received a “3 Star” rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), placing it once again in the top tier of heart surgery centers across the United States.A 3 Star rating is the highest category of quality and designates that bypass-surgery results are statistically better than the national mean. Mission Heart has received this top honor 12 times since the star rating system began in 2006. It represents another exemplary recognition of Mission Health’s commitment to quality and improved patient outcomes.
“We are honored to again receive this top rating from the STS,” Stephen W. Ely, PhD, MD, Section Chair for Cardiac Surgery at Mission Heart said. “This designation is regarded by clinicians as the gold standard by which cardiac surgery programs are evaluated and signifies that our patients consistently receive exceptional care from one of the most advanced cardiovascular care centers in the nation.”
Mission Heart’s 3 Star rating is derived from data compiled and publicly reported during 2012. The STS’s comprehensive rating system compares the quality of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery in terms of survival rates, the absence of complications and other key measures. Hospitals that score below average receive one star; those in the average rating receive two stars; and programs that score significantly above average – approximately 12 percent of participating U.S. hospitals nationally receive the top-tier rating of three stars.
“Mission Heart and our distinguished team of cardiothoracic surgeons, other physicians, nurses and caregivers continues to be ranked among the top surgical heart programs in the country, affirming our position as a national leader in cardiovascular surgery,” Ronald A. Paulus, MD, President and CEO of Mission Health said. “This achievement provides further evidence of the high-quality care we provide to the people of western North Carolina and aligns with our BIG(GER) Aim: to get each patient to the desired outcome, first without harm, also without waste and with an exceptional experience for the patient and family.”
The STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database includes more than 4.5 million cardiothoracic surgical records from 1,100 surgical groups in the U.S. that perform cardiac surgery, making it the largest such registry in the world.
About Mission Health
Mission Health, based in Asheville, N.C., is the state’s sixth-largest health system and the region’s only not-for-profit, independent community hospital system governed and managed exclusively in western North Carolina. Mission Health was recognized as one of the nation’s Top 15 Health Systems in 2012 and 2013 by Thomson Reuters and Truven Health Analytics, respectively. Mission Health is one of only two medium-sized health systems to receive this recognition in 2012 and 2013, and the only health system in North Carolina to achieve that distinction.
Mission Health, which traces its roots in the region back to 1885, operates five hospitals, numerous outpatient and surgery centers and the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center. Its medical staff consists of more than 1,000 physicians and is certified in more than 50 medical specialties and sub- specialties. Mission Health has seven Centers of Excellence: Cancer, Heart, Mission Children’s Hospital, Neurosciences, Orthopedics, Trauma and Women’s Health. Mission Hospital, located in Asheville, is the system’s flagship hospital and is licensed for 730 beds. It is the regional referral center for tertiary and quaternary care. It also includes Mission Children’s Hospital – the region’s only children’s hospital. Other Mission Health member hospitals include Angel Medical Center in Franklin, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, McDowell Hospital in Marion and Transylvania Regional Hospital in Brevard. With approximately 8,800 employees and 700 volunteers, Mission Health is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the people of western North Carolina. For more information, please visit mission- health.org.
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