Recognized as a Top 100 Rural & Community Hospital in Nation

Carteret Health Care was recently named a Top 100 Rural & Community Hospital in the United States by iVantage Health Analytics. For several years iVantage has ranked the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals, but this is the first year they have separately named the top small hospitals of 200 beds or less. 

“Frequently our patients express their appreciation for the care they receive,” shared Carteret Health Care CEO, Dick Brvenik. “Being honored as one of the first Top 100 rural and community hospitals in the United States further validates to us that our staff and medical staff provide safe, high quality care for our patients every day.”

Across the nation, there are 2,078 hospitals operating 200 beds or less and Carteret is one of four North Carolina hospitals named to the 2016 Top 100 Rural & Community Hospitals in the nation by iVantage Health Analytics. Other state hospitals recognized include Sentara Albemarle Medical Center, Johnston Health and Northern Hospital of Surry County.

Carteret Health Care’s performance was assessed through the lens of iVantage’s Hospital Strength INDEX, an objective standard for benchmarking rural, community and Critical Access Hospital performance in an increasingly complex environment.

Carteret Health Care earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement pillars. These nine measures assess the strength and vulnerabilities of hospitals including inpatient share ranking, outpatient share ranking, population health, costs, charges, quality, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction and perspectives and financial stability. Most data used is available from public sources, primarily the federal government, through the Center for Medical and Medicaid Services.

The distinction from iVantage further validates Carteret’s commitment to the community in providing high-quality, cost effective care which is available locally. As a sole community hospital, Carteret remains focused on growing essential services to better serve its increasing population. To prepare for these escalating healthcare needs, Carteret Health Care recently opened a new multidisciplinary Cancer Center along with space for 73 private inpatient replacement rooms. The hospital will continue these efforts by opening a new Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory this summer offering residents access to the highest quality, affordable cardiac care from specially trained cardiologists.

Dr. Donald Pocock, the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Carteret Health, noted that this is a focused look at the smaller facilities in the United States. These facilities, despite being rural, perform extremely well in objective measures related to Quality, Outcomes, and patient care. “There is tremendous focus locally on improving our performance and meeting patient needs”, he pointed out.

For Carteret Health Care, this new recognition comes after other achievements such as being recognized with an “A” safety score from the Leapfrog Group, and being recognized by Truven Health Analytics as improving over the most recent five years more rapidly than 98.5% of hospitals nationwide. Equally notable announcements include American Heart Association’s recognition for four service areas: Heart Failure Gold Plus and Heart Failure Honor Roll, Stroke Silver Plus and Target Stroke Honor Roll, AFib Silver and Resuscitation Silver.

Brvenik concludes, “Our staff are so much more than experts in their specialties, they are amazing team members who truly care about our community and patients.”