TAHOE FOREST HOSPITAL NAMED A TOP 100 CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITAL NATIONWIDE (2012)

Tahoe Forest Hospital (TFH) was named one of the top 100 critical access hospitals in the United States from the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). The formal announcement was made in late September 2011 at the NRHA’s 10th Annual Critical Access Hospital Conference, which attracted 650 rural hospital leaders to Kansas City, MO. Only four California Hospitals made the Top 100. The others included Fairchild Medical Center, Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital and Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta.

To be recognized as a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital (CAHs), Tahoe Forest Hospital had to earn top scores on the iVantage Health Analytics’ Hospital Strength Index. This Index offers hospital executives, trustees and boards of directors an objective way to measure their relative performance among their peers. In this first-ever comprehensive rating of CAHs, the results recognized the top hospitals that are the safety net to communities across America – measuring them across 56 different performance metrics, including quality, outcomes, patient perspective, affordability and efficiency.

Our commitment has been to offer the highest quality medical care to our patients and to be the best rural community health system in the nation. We are very proud to be recognized for these efforts that benefit our local community. It is a great honor and accomplishment to be named as one of the NRHA’s first ever ‘Top 100’ Critical Access Hospitals in America.

Over the last ten years, TFHS has been reinvesting in its technology, services and people. Changes have lead to it being recognized as both a leader in rural healthcare and a benchmark for setting national standards in healthcare delivery. Recent TFHS acknowledgments and milestones include the breaking ground for the Measure C project – new state-of-the-art Tahoe Forest Cancer Center; earning the California (Gold-Level) Award for Performance Excellence (CAPE) recognizing organizations that demonstrate world-class performance in their industry; having the first Children’s Center in Eastern Nevada County to receive a Quality 5- Star Rating Certification from the Quality Star Rating initiative, administered through the Child Care Coordinating Council; being selected as the first clerkship training site beyond Sacramento for UC Davis Rural-PRIME medical education program, and in January 2010, having UC Davis officially naming Tahoe Forest as its first-ever Rural Center of Excellence.

Adding to TFHS’s extensive list of recognitions and accomplishments, Tahoe Forest Hospital outperformed 97 percent of all hospitals that use Press Ganey for patient satisfaction scores. When TFH patients were asked if they would “definitely” recommend TFH to family and friends, TFH scored a 9 or 10 on a level of 1 to 10 for overall patient satisfaction. Press Ganey is the industry’s recognized leader in health care performance improvement, setting the gold standard for hospital satisfaction surveys.