Critical Care one of five areas to earn Top 100

When Healthgrades recently announced the top hospitals in key specialties, one name appeared with remarkable frequency: St. Jude was named one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals in Cardiac Care (for the 3rd year), Stroke Care (3rd year), Orthopedics (3rd year) and Spine Surgery (2nd year).

But there was also a new honor this year: St. Jude was named one of America’s Best 100 Hospitals in Critical Care.

“For a hospital to earn this recognition in one area would be impressive; to earn it in five speaks to an uncommon pursuit of excellence,” explains Brian Helleland, Chief Executive. “Congratulations to our entire Critical Care team for this new honor, as well as to our spine, cardiac, stroke and orthopedics teams for continuing to be industry leaders in providing the highest quality care available.”

Based entirely on clinical outcomes, the awards recognize hospitals achieving the nation’s lowest mortality and complication rates in key categories, which for Critical Care included sepsis, pulmonary embolism, diabetic emergencies and respiratory failure.

Harry Peled, MD, Medical Director of Critical Care and Cardiology, says the 24/7 presence of a board-certified intensivist within the CCU—an unusual feature among hospitals—plays a role in the unit’s success, as does high levels of collaboration and training. “All of our intensivists are at least triple board-certified, our CCU nurses are well above national standards for training and education, and a true team approach allows multiple voices—from pharmacy to respiratory therapy—to impact care,” he explains.

Beyond teamwork and multi-specialty expertise, Dr. Peled points to one more factor in the unit’s outcomes: “Our CCU team are experts at taking evidence-based medicine and translating it into highly personalized care that reflects the uniqueness of the patient in front of them.”