Bureau County Republican

IVCH receives 5-star rating for hip, knee replacement

Healthgrades, an online resource for information about physicians and hospitals, has awarded Illinois Valley Community Hospital a 5-star rating for hip and knee replacement surgery.

The company says IVCH is the only hospital in the state of Illinois to have earned its highest ranking for the two procedures for 12 consecutive years. Healthgrades annually evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide.

Tommy Hobbs, IVCH chief executive officer, credits the skills of orthopedic surgeons Dr. Peter Meier and Dr. Robert Mitchell with earning the award for the hospital.

“Doctors Meier and Mitchell have always had excellent reputations for their work. This award comes as no surprise,” he said.

Hobbs noted the care patients receive in the IVCH Joint Replacement Center is also a major factor in the hospital’s high rating. Surveys show 89 percent of IVCH joint replacement patients report mild to no pain while walking following surgery compared to a national average of 80 percent. Eighty-seven percent of IVCH joint patients go directly home from the hospital compared to a national national average of 71 percent.

The Healthgrades report demonstrates how clinical performance continues to differ dramatically between hospitals regionally and nationally, according to Dr. Brad Bowman, Healthgrades chief medical officer. “In an environment where consumers have more choices about where to receive their care, a hospital’s commitment to achieving high-quality outcomes is fundamental,” he said.

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated about 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures.