Higgins General Hospital Among Nation’s Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals
Posted Date: 11/21/2011
Some of the best care and value in rural America is available in Bremen, according to the National Rural Health Association (NRHA).
The organization ranked Bremen’s Higgins General Hospital among the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in America, based on its Hospital Strength Index – the first-ever comprehensive rating of the nation’s more than 1,300 critical access hospitals.
The hospital was the only one in Georgia to make NRHA’s list.
Higgins General Hospital is classified as a critical access hospital, a categorization intended to preserve smaller community hospitals and ensure that communities continue to have local access to healthcare services. With Higgins General Hospital, for instance, area residents have access to a 24-hour emergency department, minimally invasive short-stay surgery, diagnostic imaging and more. Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton and Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica, two of the other hospitals that comprise Tanner Health System, are classified as acute care hospitals.
NRHA’s Hospital Strength Index provides a comprehensive rating system comparing American hospitals across a continuum of 56 different financial, value-based and market-driven performance indicators. Ratings are based on publicly available data sources, including Medicare Cost Reports, Medicare claims data and Hospital Compare quality reporting.
“We are extremely proud of being listed among the nation’s 100 best critical access hospitals,” said Michael Alexander, administrator of Higgins General Hospital. “Our team of nurses and physicians, as well as others in both clinical and non-clinical roles, have done a tremendous job of ensuring that we’re providing needed services with exceptional outcomes at a great value to the community.”
Advancing quality of care – making sure that a hospital’s staff is doing everything possible to ensure the best possible outcomes – is a critical part of the federal government’s new Affordable Care Act. With the Hospital Strength Index and ranking the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in America, NRHA is helping to provide guideposts for hospitals looking to improve while spotlighting hospitals that can serve as models of performance.
“Now is the time for us to advance the analytics and transparency of the rural health sector,” said Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of the NRHA. “We play such a critical role in providing needed care to Americans, yet our challenges are completely different in access while equally complex in delivery as urban hospitals.”
Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner Health System, said ratings systems such as these can help residents make educated decisions regarding their health care.
“When a patient walks through the doors at Higgins General Hospital, they know they’re going to be treated well and receive first-rate care,” said Howard.
NRHA is a nonprofit organization working to improve the health and well-being of rural Americans and providing leadership on rural health issues through advocacy, communications, education and research. NRHA is comprised of more than 20,000 individuals and organizations that share an interest in rural health. More information is available online at www.ruralhealthweb.org.
For more information on Higgins General Hospital or to find a physician in the area on Tanner’s medical staff, call 770.214.CARE (2273) or click here.
Search Again