LMH named in top 100 hospitals for third year running

Lawrence Memorial Hospital has been named one of the nation’s top 100 hospitals in the country for the third year in a row.

“I was not surprised, but I was really happy,” said Gene Meyer, the CEO of LMH. “I kind of knew what time of year they announced it and I thought the day had passed, and I thought ‘Oh shoot, we missed it.’

“I was really happy to get the call.”

The list is prepared by Truven Health Analytics, a leading health care information company based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Truven scores almost 3,000 short-term, acute-care hospitals based on 11 components over a multiyear period, including patient care, operational efficiency and financial stability. It then selects the top 20 hospitals in five categories (major teaching, teaching, large, medium and small community hospitals) to round out its top 100.

LMH is considered a medium-sized hospital (100-249 beds), which is the largest category with more than 950 hospitals nationwide.

Meyer said that he now feels more pressure to remain on the list after making it three years in a row, comparing it with the 10 years that Kansas University’s men’s basketball team has finished at the top of its conference.

“You don’t want to be the team that lets it go,” Meyer said.

Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka was the only other Kansas hospital to appear on the list, in the large community category. No facilities in the Kansas City area were named.

Truven bases its study on public information such as Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare reports. Hospitals do not apply for consideration.

Truven has performed the study annually since 1993. This year’s winners were announced in the March 2 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.