For Immediate Release                                                                 April 2, 2007

For more information:

John Moore

Media Relations

(903)-531-4542

MOTHER FRANCES HOSPITAL AMONG TOP FIVE PERCENT NATIONALLY FOR PATIENT SAFETY, ACCORDING TO STUDY

Recognized for outstanding performance by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings company

HealthGrades study based on nearly 40 million patient records in the U.S.

Medicare patients treated at Distinguished Hospitals for Patient Safety are 40 percent less likely to have an adverse, preventable event compared with the poorest-performing hospitals

TYLER, TX - Mother Frances Hospital announced today that it has been named in an independent national research study as a recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety ^TM, according to HealthGrades, the nation's leading healthcare ratings company.

This distinction reflects Mother Frances Hospital 's performance among the top five percent nationally for patient safety outcomes, according to HealthGrades.  Mother Frances Hospital is one of only 17 hospitals in the state of Texas to receive this distinction.  

'Earning this award is truly the result of the endless commitment of our physicians, clinicians, nursing and support staff, volunteers and every individual within the health system that touches the lives of our patients and their families while under our care,' said Ray Thompson, FACHE, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Trinity Mother Frances Health System. 'Every day the safety of our patients is the foremost concern of our staff, the only difference is that today their dedication to the quality of care they provide has been recognized.'  

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Add One - MFH Top Five Percent Nationally for Patient Safety

In its Fourth Annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, HealthGrades independently analyzed nearly 40 million Medicare patient records from federal fiscal years 2003 to 2005 using 13 patient safety indicators developed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).  The patient records were obtained directly from the U.S. government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  Almost 5,000 teaching and non-teaching hospitals were analyzed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia , including all non-federal hospitals that submit Medicare data. The HealthGrades study compares the rates of key patient safety events, such as post-operative infections and preventable deaths, using AHRQ's methodology.  The methodology includes the following patient safety indicators:

·        Death in low mortality Diagnostic Related Groupings (DRGs)

·        Decubitus ulcer

·        Failure to rescue

·        Foreign body left in during procedure

·        Iatrogenic pneumothorax

·        Selected infections due to medical care

·        Post-operative hip fracture

·        Post-operative hemorrhage or hemotoma

·        Post-operative physiologic and metabolic derangements

·        Post-operative respiratory failure

·        Post-operative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis

·        Post-operative sepsis

·        Post-operative abdominal wound dehiscence

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Add Two - MFH Top Five Percent Nationally for Patient Safety

This year, a total of 242 hospitals (113 teaching and 129 non-teaching), received the 2007 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety™ from HealthGrades. 

If all Medicare patients had been treated at Distinguished Hospitals for Patient Safety during that period, HealthGrades' study finds that 206,286 patient safety events, 34,393 deaths and $1.74 billion in excess costs could have been avoided.  On average, patients at Distinguished Hospitals for Patient Safety are also 40 percent less likely to experience an adverse, preventable event during their stay than patients treated at the bottom-performing hospitals. 

The study and full methodology can be found at HealthGrades' Web site, http://www.healthgrades.com.

Mother Frances Hospital is the flagship hospital of Trinity Mother Frances Health System , which also includes Mother Frances Hospital-Jacksonville, and Trinity Clinic. Trinity Clinic is a multi-specialty physician group with over 200 providers representing 35 specialties serving east, northeast and north-central Texas .  For more information on services available through Trinity Mother Frances Health System, visit www.tmfhs.org.

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