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BRONXVILLE, N.Y. Days after Consumer Reports Magazine rated Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville as one of the top 10 lowest performing hospitals in the country, hospital officials said safety care is one its top priorities.
"The doctors, nurses and health professionals at Lawrence Hospital Center monitor numerous indicators that are both measures of safe care and reflective of a patient's total experience," the hospital said in a written statement Tuesday.
The Consumer Reports study looked at 1,045 hospitals across the United States and put them into four categories of patient safety. They include hospital-acquired infections, how well hospital staff communicate with patients about medications, readmissions, as well as discharge planning. The four categories were combined into a single safety score.
Lawrence Hospital, which delivers approximately 2,000 babies per year and sees as many as 35,000 patients annually in the emergency room, was rated the seventh worst, according to the report, with a score of 57 percent below the national average.
Consumer Reports said underperforming hospitals could take simple steps to improve their scores moving forward that include making certain all hospital staff and visitors wash their hands with soap or an alcohol-based solution before touching a patient, providing patients with a clear discharge plan detailing follow up appointments, medications and their dosages, and helping patients understand whether such things as a cane, walker or oxygen are covered by their insurance plans.
But Lawrence Hospital said its goal has always been to provide quality care.
"The Consumer Reports article on hospital patient safety used only a few indicators of patient care to draw its conclusions on care provided at area hospitals," the hospital statement said. "The quality of care at Lawrence has been and will continue to be the top priority of the board of governors, the medical staff and all the dedicated professionals who take pride in delivering safe care to the community."
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