33 IL Hospitals Named Among Best For Patient Safety, Experience

ILLINOIS — Dozens of hospitals in Illinois are among hundreds nationwide recognized for safety and patient experience by Healthgrades, a comprehensive database of ratings and comparisons for physicians, hospitals and health care providers.

Awards announced Tuesday include the 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award, which recognizes hospitals nationwide for high-quality care and prevention of serious safety events during hospital stays, and the 2024 Outstanding Patient Experience Award.

Only 79 of 444 hospitals nationwide received both awards, including Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital was also a “Triple Crown” recipient, meaning it was named among America’s 250 Best Overall hospitals in addition to its awards for patient safety and experience.

The hospitals in Illinois that were among those recognized for patient experience include:

• Alton Memorial Hospital
• Cancer Treatment Center of America, Chicago in Zion
• Carle Bromenn Medical Center in Normal
• Elmhurst Hospital — Main Campus
• HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon
• Memorial Hospital Belleville
• Midwest Medical Center in Galena
• Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield
• Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva
• Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb
• Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago
• Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora
• Rush University Medical Center in Chicago

Those recognized for patient safety include:

• Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge
• Ascension Alexian Brothers in Elk Grove Village
• Ascension Resurrection in Chicago
• Ascension St. Alexius in Hoffman Estates
• Ascension St. Mary in Kankakee
• Evanston Hospital
• Gibson Area Hospital and Health Services
• Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago
• Insight Hospital and Medical Center Chicago
• Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights
• Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
• Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital
• OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington
• OSF St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg
• Rush University Medical Center in Chicago
• Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox
• Swedish Hospital in Chicago
• UChicago AdventHealth Hinsdale
• UChicago AdventHealth La Grange
• UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Bolingbrook
• UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks

Evanston Hospital, Insight Hospital and Medical Center Chicago, Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital, OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center, UChicago AdventHealth Hinsdale and UChicago AdventHealth La Grange were among the top 5 percent of hospitals for patient safety.

The Patient Safety Excellence Award was presented to the top 10 percent of hospitals, based on an analysis of required data reporting in 13 patient safety measures. Read more about the methodology.

Healthgrades said that if all hospitals observed the same protocols as those in this category, they could have avoided more than 97,000 patient safety events between 2020 and 2022. The analysis revealed that patients treated at recipient hospitals are less likely to experience the following safety events compared to patients treated at non-recipient hospitals:

• In-hospital falls resulting in fracture (approximately 52 percent less likely)
• Collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest (approximately 56 percent less likely)
• Pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital (approximately 67 percent less likely)
• Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital (approximately 71 percent less likely).

For the patient experience awards, Healthgrades reviewed Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient survey data. Read more about the methodology. The 388 award recipients in this category represent the top 15 percent of eligible U.S. hospitals that provided best-in-class patient experiences during the January 2022 to December 2022 study period.

Experiences that made a difference to patients included communication with both doctors and nurses, as well as clear communication about follow-up care upon discharge.