Five Penn Highlands Healthcare Hospitals Receive Prestigious Awards and Accreditations

Five Penn Highlands Healthcare hospitals recently received prestigious awards and accreditations from respected national and regional organizations.

The Chartis Center for Rural Health Awards

Three Penn Highlands Healthcare hospitals received 2022 Performance Leadership Awards for Excellence from The Chartis Center for Rural Health. Penn Highlands Huntingdon, in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, was recognized with the Outcomes Award; Penn Highlands Tyrone in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, received the Patient Perspectives Award; and Penn Highlands Elk, in St. Marys, Pennsylvania earned the Outcomes, Patient Perspectives and Quality awards. The Performance Leadership Awards honor top quartile performance (e.g., 75th percentile or above) among rural hospitals in Quality, Outcomes and Patient Perspectives.

The Performance Leadership Awards are based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX™, the industry’s most comprehensive and objective assessment of rural hospital performance. INDEX data is trusted and relied upon by rural hospitals, health systems with rural footprints, hospital associations and state offices of rural health across the country to measure and monitor performance across several areas impacting hospital operations and finance.

“Although the last two years have placed unprecedented pressure on the rural health safety net, the dedication to serving the community that we’re so accustomed to seeing from rural hospitals across the country hasn’t wavered,” said Michael Topchik, National Leader, The Chartis Center for Rural Health. “Let us celebrate the power of rural health and honor the facilities working tirelessly to provide access to high quality healthcare services to their communities.”

The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) Patient Safety Award

Penn Highlands Brookville and Penn Highlands Elk received recognition for Excellence in Patient Safety from The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. The HAP Excellence in Patient Safety Recognition Program supports the continued improvement of quality and patient safety among Pennsylvania Hospitals by recognizing Pennsylvania’s top performing hospitals that have reduced healthcare-associated infections.

HAP used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network to identify and recognize its member hospitals that perform better than the mean standardized infection ratio (SIR) across Pennsylvania in three key measures: central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and clostridium difficile infections (CDI).

Corazon, Inc. Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Program Reaccreditation

Penn Highlands Mon Valley (PHMV), in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, recently received reaccreditation for its Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Program from Corazon, Inc., a national leader in services for the cardiovascular specialty. PCI is a non-surgical procedure that uses a catheter to place a small stent to open blood vessels in the heart that have been narrowed by plaque buildup. The accreditation proves that the PHMV program has once again met or exceeded the requirements established by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for PCI procedures.

UPMC Health Plan Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Surgery Center of Excellence

UPMC Health Plan designated Penn Highlands Mon Valley as a UPMC Health Plan Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Surgery Center of Excellence. The hospital earned this designation for demonstrating a commitment to providing UPMC Health Plan members with high-quality care and an optimal patient experience. Requirements for the Center of Excellence program include meeting thresholds of volume, readmission and complication rates, CAHPS and pre- and post-patient reported outcomes annually. The Center of Excellence entitles Penn Highlands Mon Valley to be listed on the UPMC Health Plan website for members and referring physicians.