Hackettstown Regional Medical Center is the only hospital in New Jersey to score 100% in a report on quality released October 14th by the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services. The annual report card looks at how consistently hospitals in the state provide quality medical care in four important categories: Heart Attack Treatment, Heart Failure Treatment, and Pneumonia Treatment, and in the Departments Surgical Care Improvement Project.

Betsy Ryan, President and CEO for the New Jersey Hospital Association, was quoted in an October 14th The Star-Ledger article saying that the overall results demonstrated ...a true commitment by hospital leaders and their staffs to continuously improve and make their patient services the best they can be. This report delivers good news to patients: New Jersey hospitals continue to improve the quality of healthcare in our state."

The 100% score in all four categories is good news indeed for patients at Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, said Gene C. Milton, FACHE, HRMC President & CEO. We are extremely proud of the commitment to quality by every staff member and physician to achieve such high numbers. It takes an entire team, not just any one individual, to make quality a priority. These scores mean that HRMC provides our patients with all the care elements they are entitled to 100% of the time. It also is an indication that our hospital follows the Best Practice guidelines supported by The Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.*

Hackettstown Regional Medical Center is also included among a list of 75 hospitals out of 4,500 across the nation to receive the Superior Quality Merit Award for its stellar performance in the categories of quality, affordability, efficiency and patient satisfaction. This group of hospitals has a proven ability to deliver high quality care, a key element in providing overall value to their communities, said Hal Andrews, CEO of Data Advantage, the organization that conducted the national study and bestowed the awards.

Earlier this year, Hackettstown Regional Medical Center was ranked Number One in the nation on the WhyNotTheBest.org website for its Overall Quality composite score of 99.7%. It is currently ranked Number Three.

In an address to HRMC Staff, President & CEO Gene Milton said, It is because of each of you that we are able to achieve such high acclaim both in New Jersey and nationally. Im very thankful for all your hard work and for your superior attention to our patients.

*Source: New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Hospital Performance Report, New Jersey 2009, A Consumer Report. The Report is based on 2008 data.