November 5, 2007
Contact: (434) 200.4730

Centra has earned Premier’s national award for quality and efficiency for the second time — placing Centra among the top 1 percent of hospitals in the country.

“This award is an extraordinary honor because it is very comprehensive, and it measures us for what we see as important: quality of care and efficiency,” said George W. Dawson, Centra president and CEO.  “And it comes just as we are opening our five-story East Tower at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital to meet growing regional demand from patients who are turning to Centra because of our nationally recognized quality care.”

This is the second year Centra has been honored for superior patient outcomes in quality and efficiency with the 2007 Select Practice quality award from Premier | CareScience, a national health care alliance.  Centra is one of fewer than 50 health care organizations nationwide — and the only health care system in Virginia — to receive the Select Practice award, placing Centra among the top 1 percent of acute inpatient facilities to be honored for the highest levels of performance in quality and efficiency of patient care.  Centra also was the only hospital in Virginia to be named a Select Practice national quality leader in 2006.

Premier identified Centra as a top performer in quality and efficiency among the 4,700 acute care facilities in Premier’s MEDPAR 2005 data, regardless of bed size or teaching status.

“We are pleased to recognize this elite group of hospitals from across the nation that offer the highest quality and most efficient patient care,” said Richard A. Bankowitz, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.P., vice president and medical director for Premier Healthcare Informatics.  “These hospitals represent the country’s elite health care facilities for patient care based on performance using objective measures of clinical outcomes and efficiencies.”

Select Practice data includes 16 clinical risk indicators, more than any other national quality award or designation, according to Premier.  The quality index is calculated by combining the outcome deviations for mortality, morbidity and complications into a single quality measure for each facility.  Quality and efficiency ratings are combined to determine the award recipients.