Southwest General Hospital Receives Excellence Recognition in HealthGrades® 2007/2008 Maternity Care Report

Southwest General Hospital has been recognized as the only San Antonio hospital to receive the Maternity Care Excellence Award™ in a maternity care report issued by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings company. This makes it the third year in a row for the hospital to be honored with this prestigious recognition. In addition, Southwest General Hospital ranked in the Top 10% of hospitals nationally for maternity care, and received a five-star rating for clinical excellence in maternity care services four years in a row.

The 2007/2008 HealthGrades programmatic ratings for maternity care are based on the following criteria: in-hospital complication rates associated with vaginal and cesarean deliveries, in-hospital volume, neonatal mortality, and complication rates for non-medically indicated or patient choice cesarean sections.

For its 2007/2008 ratings, HealthGrades independently analyzed the quality of maternity care for more than 1,500 hospitals across 19 states that make this information publicly available, objectively assessing their clinical performance and quality over the three year period from 2003 – 2005. The four criteria measured were weighted using predetermined weights based on consensus from a physician panel. Each factor’s percentile score was multiplied by its weight and then summed to create an overall score. Based upon each hospital’s overall score, HealthGrades applied the following rating system:

Five-star (Best) = Top 15% of all hospitals within 19 states
Three-star (Average) = Middle 70% of all hospitals within 19 states
One-star (Poor) = Bottom 15% of all hospitals within 19 states

Receiving a five-star designation indicates a hospital has scored in the Top 15% or better in the nation for clinical quality.

“Each year, HealthGrades conducts the largest annual studies of hospital quality in America,” explained Samantha Collier, HealthGrades’ Chief Medical Officer. “The fact is, a close analysis of the data shows that the quality of maternity care varies widely from hospital to hospital, so it’s important for individuals to have this vital information as they evaluate hospitals.”

The complete maternity care ratings are published, free of charge, on the HealthGrades Web site, www.healthgrades.com. Ratings for 28 other medical procedures and diagnoses – including cardiac, pulmonary, vascular, stroke, orthopedics, critical care, bariatrics and gastrointestinal services are also available on the HealthGrades Web site. More than three million users visit the HealthGrades Web site each month.

Southwest General Hospital recently completed renovation and expansion of The BirthPlace, the hospital’s maternity center. The expansion added six additional labor, delivery, and recovery (LDR) suites, increasing existing capacity to 17 rooms. In addition, 14 postpartum suites were constructed, bringing capacity from 20 rooms to 34 rooms. The Level III Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit will increase from a 10 bed unit to a 34 bed unit that utilizes the entire second floor of The BirthPlace.