Oconomowoc Memorial Emergency Department Recognized for Care

Published on: 12/7/2012

Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital has become the first hospital in Wisconsin to receive the prestigious Press Ganey Summit Award for excellence in emergency care five years in a row.

Summit Award winners set themselves apart by demonstrating their dedication to excellence in the quality of care as well as employee and physician satisfaction.

“Our culture of care is one in which we are dedicated to providing the best experience possible for every patient,” said Tim Westlake, M.D., medical director of Oconomowoc Memorial’s emergency department. “We consistently hear from patients that Oconomowoc Memorial is the hospital they prefer to go to when they need emergency care.”

Hospitals must sustain patient satisfaction scores at the 95th percentile or higher during three consecutive years to qualify for the Summit Award. Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital’s emergency department also received the award in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, which means it has maintained a high satisfaction ranking every year since 2005. The scores indicate that Oconomowoc Memorial’s emergency department was rated higher by its patients than 95% of the hospitals in the nation, according to patient surveys conducted by Press Ganey.

For more than 25 years, Press Ganey has been the industry’s recognized leader in health care performance improvement. Press Ganey partners with more than 10,000 health care facilities, including more than 50 percent of U.S. hospitals, to measure and improve the quality of care. The company’s databases are the largest in the industry, and allow facilities nationwide to benchmark their results against peer organizations.

Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital is a 76-bed acute-care hospital located in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The emergency department cares for approximately 13,000 patients a year. Oconomowoc Memorial is part of ProHealth Care, an integrated health system that includes three hospitals, physician clinics, a health and fitness center, home care and hospice, and senior living facilities.

For more information, go to www.prohealthcare.org or www.pressganey.com.