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Awards and Achievements
Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant has successfully completed its 100th Transcarotid Artery Revascularization procedure (TCAR), which demonstrates an excellent advancement in carotid artery stenosis treatment. Carotid artery stenosis is a narrowing of the large arteries on either side of the neck. These arteries carry blood to the head, face and brain. This usually results in the build-up of plaque within the arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis. Overtime, stenosis or plaque burden can worsen and lead to stroke. The TCAR procedure reverses the direction of blood flow in the carotid and the patient’s risk of stroke and cranial nerve injury during the procedure is significantly lower. While conventional surgery is an alternative option, TCAR has several additional advantages. Dr. Boulos Toursarkissian, who has performed the majority of these procedures at the hospital, stated, “It is much less invasive, less painful, and saves time.” He also says the incision is much smaller which lessens recovery time. “Being the 100th, this milestone demonstrates the level of expertise and specialized skills of our vascular team at Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant.” Dr. Toursarkissian notes that not every patient is a candidate for this type of procedure. Patients must meet certain criteria and candidacy should be determined by their physician.
METHODIST HEALTHCARE HOSPITALS NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR QUALITY AND SAFETY
Five Methodist Healthcare hospitals were awarded “A” Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades for Fall 2022. This national distinction recognizes achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.
The Leapfrog Group is an independent nonprofit organization committed to driving quality, safety, and transparency in the U.S. health system. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections, and other harm to patients in their care.
Leapfrog Grades for Fall 2022
• Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant – 10 A’s in a row
• Methodist Hospital | Atascosa – 9 A’s in a row • Methodist Hospital | Northeast • Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak • Methodist Hospital The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 22 evidence-based measures of patient safety to assign grades to more than 3,000 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.
METHODIST HEALTHCARE FACILITIES ACHIEVE HEALTHGRADES 2023 CRITICAL CARE EXCELLENCE AWARD
Methodist Healthcare hospitals were recognized by Healthgrades as 2023 Critical Care Excellence Award recipients. Healthgrades Specialty Excellence Awards recognize the top 10% of hospitals across the country in 17 specialty care areas. This achievement reflects their outstanding clinical outcomes for critical care and distinguishes them as two of the leading hospitals in the nation for critical care. Healthgrades evaluated patient mortality and complication rates for 31 of the most common conditions and procedures at nearly 4,500 hospitals across the country to identify the top-performing hospitals for specialty care. This year’s analysis revealed significant variation in patient outcomes between hospitals with a 2023 Healthgrades Specialty Excellence Award and hospitals that did not receive the award.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
METHODIST HOSPITAL | STONE OAK REHABILITATION CENTER RECOGNIZED BY NEWSWEEK AS TOP 10 REHAB CENTER IN TEXAS
For the second year in a row, Newsweek has named Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak Rehabilitation Center to their 2022 America’s Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers in Texas list. Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak Rehabilitation Center placed 8th on Newsweek’s prestigious list of the nation’s top 255 inpatient facilities, based on the results of an online survey from over 4,400 experts on physical rehabilitation. “We are thrilled to once more be recognized as a top Rehabilitation Center in Texas,” shared Jeff Wilson, CEO of Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak. “Since opening our doors in 2020, the nursing and therapy teams have been instrumental in providing exceptional care to our patients and helping them recover as quickly and safely as possible from injury, surgery, or disabling medical conditions.” Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak Rehabilitation Center offers a comfortable environment for patients to receive the highest quality of inpatient rehabilitation services with a patient-centered approach. The facility provides treatment for a variety of orthopedic and neurologic conditions including stroke, traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury, spinal surgery, spinal cord injury, hip replacement, amputations, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Neurologic diagnoses such as muscular dystrophy, polyneuropathy, and motor neuron disease are also treated at the facility. This 42-bed freestanding state-of-the-art facility is specifically designed to help patients recover as quickly and safely as possible following a traumatic injury, surgery, or other disabling medical condition or injury. Customizing the care for each patient allows for the safest and most effective approach to maximizing recovery while personalizing the care experience. The services at the facility include 24-hour rehabilitation nursing, rehabilitation physicians, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, respiratory therapy, medical nutritionist, psychology, case management, and internal medicine management.
METHODIST HOSPITAL’S ECMO PROGRAM RECEIVES GOLD-LEVEL DISTINCTION FOR EXCELLENCE IN LIFE SUPPORT
The ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) Program at Methodist Hospital received the Gold-Level Center of Excellence award from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). The award honors centers that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to evidence-based processes and quality measures, staff training and continuing education, patient satisfaction and ongoing clinical care.
A designated Center of Excellence has demonstrated extraordinary achievement in the following three categories: • Excellence in promoting the mission, activities, and vision of ELSO; • Excellence in patient care by using the highest quality measures, processes, and structures based upon evidence; and • Excellence in training, education, collaboration, and communication supporting ELSO guidelines that contributes to a healing environment for families, patients, and staff. ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support for patients experiencing acute failure of the cardiac and respiratory systems. A pump circulates blood through a circuit of tubing supporting heart function and through an “oxygenator” which functions as an artificial lung. It is used when a patient is so critically ill that no other support is adequate. ECMO is also utilized as a bridge to treatment for patients requiring a heart or lung transplant. “It is an honor to receive this award by such a distinguished organization as ELSO, not only because of the prestige of the Gold Level designation but more importantly, because it serves as a recognition of the dedication of our staff to exceptional quality and patient care on a daily basis,” said Dr. Jeffrey DellaVolpe, Program Director , Methodist Hospital ECMO program Methodist Hospital received the Gold-Level Center of Excellence Award in 2019. This award is valid for threeyear intervals. ELSO is an international not-for-profit consortium of healthcare centers and individuals dedicated to the development, evaluation and improvement of ECMO and other innovative therapies for support of failing organ systems. ELSO is a broad multidisciplinary collaboration of providers, nurses, perfusionists, respiratory therapists, technicians, researchers and industry experts. Global chapters of ELSO provide worldwide education and expertise in ECMO delivery.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
METHODIST HOSPITAL PERFORMS 2,000TH TAVR CARDIAC PROCEDURE
The structural heart team at Methodist Hospital performed its 2,000th transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure. Methodist Hospital, which has been performing the minimally invasive procedure since 2011, is among the top ten percent of programs in the United States to achieve this milestone.
TAVR has become the first-line therapy for patients with aortic stenosis, a condition that occurs when the valve, which controls blood flow between the heart and the rest of the body, thickens and calcifies. As the valve progressively narrows, the heart works harder to push the blood through an increasingly smaller opening causing pressure to build up in the heart and lungs. This causes the patient to experience shortness of breath. If left untreated, this condition can lead to heart failure.
An alternative to open-heart surgery, TAVR is a minimally invasive valve repair procedure that has shifted from being performed in an operating room to a catheterization lab, dramatically reducing procedural time, mortality risk, and recovery time. TAVR is beneficial for patients deemed high-risk for conventional heart surgery or who are more likely to have higher mortality. Patients recover quicker and, on average, go home after one to two days in the hospital. Dr. Jorge Alvarez, Interventional Cardiologist who performed the procedure says, “Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) started as a way for us to provide life-saving treatment for those patients that previously were not able to undergo traditional surgical aortic valve replacement. Many of these patients were simply excluded because of age. Now, with the evolution of this technology, TAVR is available not only for those unsuitable for open-surgical procedures but also for those who seek a less invasive choice without compromising durability or longevity.” Achieving the 2,000th TAVR benchmark places Methodist Hospital in the top tier for this procedure in the United States.
“The correlation between our program’s volume and quality outcomes makes Methodist the stand-alone leader in South Texas and among the best in the country. The experience and quality of the program have allowed us to bring new cutting-edge technology and procedures to our patients whom we serve and treat like family,” Dr. Alvarez stated.
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT NAMES METHODIST HOSPITAL NO. 1 BEST REGIONAL HOSPITAL
For the fourth consecutive year, Methodist Hospital was named Best Regional Hospital for 2022-23 by U.S. News and World Report. A best regional hospital ranking is determined by a hospital’s performance in the adult specialty rankings analysis. Methodist Hospital ranked as a high performer in eleven procedures/conditions, three additional categories as compared to last year. The eleven procedures and conditions include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), colon cancer surgery, diabetes, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, kidney failure, knee replacement, prostate cancer surgery, stroke, and uterine cancer surgery. “This recognition not only reflects our team members’ and physicians’ commitment to safety, clinical outcomes, and patient experiences, but it also illustrates our efforts in ensuring our patients have access to the highest level of care,” commented Dan Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital. “Earning this recognition for the fourth year in a row is a testament to the dedication of our entire team. It is an honor to work alongside them as we fulfill our mission and prioritize patient-centered care.” Scores are based largely on objective measures, such as survival rates, volume and quality of nursing, patient safety, specialized staff, and hospital satisfaction. Data collected from other Methodist Healthcare System hospitals -including
Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, Methodist Hospital | Northeast, Methodist Hospital | Texsan,
and Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant- contributed to Methodist Hospital’s designation. “Despite the demands of a pandemic and aftermath, the resiliency of our providers and staff continues to drive us to maintain excellence. Our focus on patient safety, experience, and excellent quality outcomes are the pillars of our commitment to each patient we care for,” commented Dr. Diana Henderson, Chief Medical Officer of Methodist Hospital. The annual Best Hospitals rankings and ratings, now in their 33rd year, are designed to assist patients and their doctors in making informed decisions about where to receive quality care for challenging health conditions or elective procedures. For the 2022-2023 rankings and ratings, U.S. News evaluated more than 4,500 hospitals across 15 specialties and 20 procedures and conditions. For the first time, U.S. News rated eligible hospitals in Ovarian Cancer Surgery, Prostate Cancer Surgery, and Uterine Cancer Surgery.
