Consumers Honor ThedaCare Hospitals
Appleton Medical Center, Theda Clark Preferred for 10th Consecutive Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 21, 2013
Consumers picked ThedaCare’s hospitals in the Fox Cities as best in the Appleton-Oshkosh region for the 10th year in a row.
Lincoln, Nebraska-based National Research Corporation today released the results of its Market Insights survey showing consumers named Theda Clark Medical Center (Theda Clark) in Neenah as the 2013-14 Consumer Choice Award winner in the Neenah- Oshkosh market and Appleton Medical Center (AMC) as the 2013-14 Consumer Choice Award winner in the Appleton market, sharing the honor with St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.
Kim Barnas, senior vice president of AMC and Theda Clark, said the Consumer Choice Award is special to receive since it comes from patients. “It’s wonderful that our patients and their families continually choose Appleton Medical Center and Theda Clark as the best local hospitals; that is rewarding since it shows they’ve noticed the work we’ve done to improve patient care,” she said. “ThedaCare’s employees, healthcare professionals, and volunteers are the ones out there on the front line providing the best care possible every day to our patients. They are the reason for this award.”
AMC and Theda Clark are among only 11 hospitals in Wisconsin to be named Consumer Choice Award winners. Nationwide, 277 hospitals across the United States were picked for the honor from more than 3,200 hospitals. The complete list of hospitals was published in a recent edition of Modern Healthcare magazine. This is the 18th year NRC has awarded hospitals whose consumers have recognized them for providing quality healthcare services.
Area consumers overwhelmingly named AMC and Theda Clark as delivering the area’s highest quality care, said Susan L. Henricks, National Research’s president and chief operating officer. She said the winners were determined based on consumer perceptions of quality and image as collected in the company’s annual study.
“We are thrilled to offer this annual award because we understand how important the role of reputation plays in healthcare consumer decision-making,” Henricks said. “These winners have done an outstanding job of representing their organizations in terms of high quality care, improvement initiatives, and positive consumer perceptions and experiences. The consumers have spoken. And we congratulate the winning hospitals in receiving this honor.”
Consumer Choice Award winners like AMC and Theda Clark received the highest ratings from consumers in four areas:
- Overall quality
- Best doctors
- Best nurses
- Overall image and reputation
While Theda Clark and AMC receive the honor, Barnas said the Consumer Choice Award recognizes work done by all ThedaCare’s employees along with the independent physicians and their staffs who partner with the healthcare system.
“The Consumer Choice designation isn’t just for the hospitals, but for everyone associated with ThedaCare,” she said. “We all work together to provide the best care possible for our patients.”
This is the eighteenth year National Research has awarded hospitals whose consumers have recognized them for providing the highest quality healthcare. Winners are determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected in the company’s Market Insights Survey. This study surveys over 270,000 households in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. From the households surveyed, hospitals named by consumers are analyzed and ranked based on their Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, with the winning facilities being ranked the highest.
The 2013-14 National Research Market Insights survey is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive study of its kind. No other study used to measure hospital performance and preferences contains more consumer responses than NRC’s study.
AMC is a 160-bed acute care hospital that opened in 1958. In addition to general medical and surgical care, services include the Appleton Heart Institute, a fully staffed emergency department, pediatrics, birthing services, a comprehensive cancer center, and ThedaCare Orthopedics Plus, which integrates orthopedics, sports medicine, outpatient rehabilitation and other services. Appleton Medical Center is an accredited Chest Pain Center by the national Society of Chest Pain Centers.
Theda Clark is a 166-bed acute care hospital founded in 1909. In addition to general medical and surgical care, specialized services include a birth center, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin – Fox Valley, the region’s only American College of Surgeons Verified Level II Trauma Center, and ThedaStar Air Medical Helicopter. Recognized centers of care include the Theda Clark Stroke Center, the Bariatric Program at Theda Clark, and the Aylward Outpatient Surgery Center.
ThedaCare™ is a community health system consisting of five hospitals: Appleton Medical Center, Theda Clark Medical Center, New London Family Medical Center, Shawano Medical Center, and Riverside Medical Center in Waupaca. ThedaCare also includes ThedaCare Physicians, ThedaCare Behavioral Health, and ThedaCare at Home. ThedaCare is the largest employer in Northeast Wisconsin with more than 6,175 employees. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
For more than 30 years, National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCIA and NRCIB) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today the company’s focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities,
employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders. Recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the largest patient satisfaction firms in the U.S., National Research is dedicated to representing the true voice of patients and other healthcare stakeholders. National Research is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. For more information, call 800-388-4264,writetoinfo@nationalresearch.com, or visit www.nationalresearch.com.
For more information, media may contact Megan Wilcox, APR, (megan.wilcox@thedacare.org), public relations and corporate specialist for ThedaCare, at (920) 830-5847, or call the Theda Clark Medical Center switchboard at (920) 729-3100 and ask for the marketing person on call.
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