TROY – Premier Health’s Upper Valley Medical Center has been named a recipient of the Patient Safety Excellence Award and Outstanding Patient Experience Award by Healthgrades.

This is the fifth consecutive year for the Patient Safety Excellence Award, which ranks UVMC among the top 10% of hospitals in the nation for patient safety. This award recognizes hospitals for their performance in safeguarding patients from serious and potentially preventable complications during their hospital stay. It is based on inpatient data from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review database and software from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Healthgrades’ Outstanding Patient Experience Award is based on data collected from surveys of the hospital’s own patients and places UVMC in the top 15% of hospitals in the nation for patient experience.

“These distinctions reflect our providers’ and staff’s ongoing dedication in providing quality care to our patients,” Kevin Harlan, president of UVMC, said. “We believe this underscores the peace of mind that our patients and families can have in knowing that they and their loved ones are in good hands at UVMC/Premier Health.”

Award recipient hospitals “exemplify the value of a patient-centric culture and commitment to delivering the best outcomes and experiences for patients,” Healthgrades reported. “For some, the pandemic presented an expanded ability to work remotely or even from a new hometown while for others it sparked an interest in relocating to a new community. Many consumers are reevaluating their care options and exploring care options in new locations with new providers and new hospitals. Recognizing this shift, Healthgrades conducted supplemental analyses to highlight the relative performance of hospitals in patient safety and patient experience by region.”

Healthgrades provides information about physicians, hospitals and health care providers throughout the United States and has amassed information on more than 3 million U.S. health care providers.