Hospital Highlights: Hospital earns 5 star rating

Whitman Hospital and Medical Center has recently been recognized by Medicare as having a 5-star rating for patient experience. This is a huge accomplishment for our local hospital. In response to achieving this highly coveted 5-star status, Whitman Hospital’s CEO Hank Hanigan said, “We are extremely proud of this achievement and thank our excellent staff and physicians for their high level of care and dedication to our patients.”

To see the details of how WHMC arrived at a 5-star status, please visit http://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare. Essentially, star ratings are determined by the answers given by patients on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. Patients receive these surveys in the mail following their hospital stay, and based on their responses to the 11 HCAHPS measures, hospitals are ranked accordingly.

Of note, the HospitalCompare website noted above shows WHMC rating above both the Washington and National Average in all 11 categories set forth by Medicare.

More than 4,000 Medicare-certified hospitals across the country, 92 in the state of Washington alone, are listed on the site. This user-friendly site is available to the public, and WHMC invites everyone to visit the site to see the different rankings of local hospitals, and make an informed decision as to where they want to receive their care.

In an age where consumers want and deserve more information about the healthcare choices available to them, HospitalCompare gives every person the opportunity to “shop around” for the hospital that will provide them with the best possible care and service.

Contrary to other ads recently published, there are actually two hospitals in Washington state that have achieved 5-star status, and both are here in Whitman County – Whitman Hospital and Medical Center and Pullman Regional Hospital.

Whitman Hospital is honored that our patients have collectively ranked us at the top for Patient Experience and we pledge to work hard to offer the 5-star service our patients have come to know and expect.

Laurie Gronning,

public relations specialist

Whitman Hospital & Medical Center