Caldwell, ID – West Valley Medical Center released today that it has been recognized by Healthgrades as one of America's 100 Best hospitals for Prostate Surgery. Healthgrades, the leading online resource that helps consumers search, compare and connect with physicians and hospitals, evaluated nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 31 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions and identified the 100 best hospitals within each procedure.

The “Patient Experience” initiatives at West Valley Medical Center have fostered an environment of change that has identified areas of improvement to meet the growing needs of Canyon County. Board Certified Urologist Donald Stritzke, MD states “good teamwork is good medicine and that is what separates West Valley Medical Center from other facilities. The commitment to high quality care has translated into new pre and post-surgical patient care education and new operating rooms with the latest technology.”

West Valley Medical Center is the only hospital in the State of Idaho to be recognized by Healthgrades for the following:

  • Five-Star recipient Gallbladder Removal Surgery in 2014 – 3 years in a row
  • Five-Star recipient Prostate Removal Surgery in 2014 – 2 years in a row
  • Prostate Surgery Excellence Award in 2014 ranking among the top 5% in the nation
  • Among the Healthgrades America's 100 Best Hospitals for Prostate Surgery in 2014

The achievement is part of findings released today in American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2014: Healthgrades Report to the Nation, which demonstrates how clinical performance differs dramatically between hospitals and the impact that this variation may have on health outcomes. For example, from 2010-2012, if all hospitals as a group, performed similarly to hospitals receiving 5-stars as a group, on average 234,252 lives could potentially have been saved and 157,418 complications could potentially have been avoided. A 5-star rating indicates that West Valley’s clinical outcomes are better than expected when treating the condition or conducting the procedure being evaluated.

“West Valley Medical Center is proud to once again be recognized by HealthGrades as the best in Idaho 2014 for Gall Bladder Surgery and Prostatectomy. The importance of these ratings exemplifies our commitment to quality and our passion to provide the best to our community. We are grateful to all our experienced surgeons and highly trained hospital staff in making this designation possible.” commented Julie Taylor, CEO of West Valley Medical Center.

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 40 million Medicare-patient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide, assessing hospital performance relative to each of 31 common conditions and procedures. Healthgrades awards hospitals quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5 star (statistically better than expected), 3 star (statistically as expected) and 1 star (statistically worse than expected) categories. Detailed performance information, such as cohort-specific outcomes data and quality achievements for individual hospitals may be found at www.healthgrades.com/find-a-hospital.