By By Lydia Grimes
Atmore Community Hospital has, once again, been chosen to receive the Summit Award for patient satisfaction.
Press Ganey Associates, Inc. has recognized the hospital with the award for sustaining the highest level of customer satisfaction.
"We have won this award for the past several years," Bill Perkins, hospital administrator, said. "It is based on customer satisfaction and it's good to know that our patients appreciate what we are doing. This is a very prestigious award and it's rewarding to know that our patients think we do a good job. We are very proud of it. Our goal is always to provide world class health care to our patients."
An affiliate of Baptist Health Care, Atmore Community Hospital received the award for consistently placing in the Top 5 percent of the firm's customer satisfaction database. Summit Awards are given to hospitals that sustain high-level scores for three or more consecutive years.
Press Ganey currently partners with more than 10,000 health care facilities, including more than 40 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 bench their marks against peer organizations.
"In order to win this award, we have to have a 95 percent patient satisfaction for a period of three years," Perkins said. "It is a very elite award and we are proud of it."
The Press Ganey Summit Award is the health care industry's most coveted symbol of achievement bestowed annually, and Baptist Heath Care is one of the nation's 74 organizations to receive this honor in 2009. Three additional Baptist Health Care facilities also received Summit Awards, Gulf Breeze Hospital, Jay Hospital and Baptist Medical Park at Nine Mile Surgery Center.