Kaweah Health named the most awarded hospital in the Central Valley for 2021

Recognitions include one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals in Cardiac Surgery, America's top 100 hospitals in stroke, pulmonary and critical care

Visalia, CA – Kaweah Health Medical Center is the most awarded hospital for clinical quality excellence in the Central Valley for 2021, according to a new report released today by Healthgrades. Among its recognitions, Kaweah Health has been named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery for the fourth year in a row and one of America’s top 100 hospitals in the care of stroke, pulmonary and critical care patients according to the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems.

“We are all honored and humbled by this recognition. Our team is focused on excellence and works tirelessly to care for this community,” said Gary Herbst, Chief Executive Officer of Kaweah Health. “To be named among some of the best hospitals in the nation is an honor and a reflection of the dedication and commitment our staff and physicians have for the care and well-being of our community.”

Kaweah Health's is one of eight hospitals in California, and the only one in the Central Valley to receive the distinction as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals™ for Cardiac Surgery for its superior clinical outcomes in heart bypass surgery and heart valve surgery. Leheb Araim, M.D., Medical Director of Cardiac Surgery and Gonzalo Javier Carrizo, M.D. are Kaweah Health’s cardiothoracic surgeons. Kaweah Health is affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic, the No. 1 ranked heart program in the U.S. every year since 1995. Through this affiliation, physicians and staff from Kaweah Health and Cleveland Clinic collaborate to improve healthcare services and outcomes by implementing best practices and using data to improve care.

Kaweah Health offers a full range of cardiovascular services in partnership with the following physicians: Cardiologists Ashkan Attaran, M.D., Kusai Aziz, M.D., Sukhvinder Bhajal, M.D., David Cislowski, M.D., Frank Gavini, M.D., Ankur Gupta, M.D., Vinod Gupta, M.D., Dennis Johnson, M.D., Harry Lively, M.D., Barry Meyer, M.D., Reza Rafie, M.D., H. Rajender Reddy, M.D., Bindusagar Reddy, M.D., Sarmad Said, M.D., Shashi Sharma, M.D., Shailesh Shetty, M.D., Bikram Soni, M.D., Nallathamby Thayapran, M.D., Aditya Verma, M.D., Ashok Verma, M.D., and Vascular Surgeons: Omar Araim, M.D., Matthew Campbell, M.D., Abdulrahman Hamdi, M.D., LaMar Mack, M.D., and David Nye, D.O.

“It truly has been and continues to be a team effort when it comes to the great success of our cardiac program. Our nurses, techs, and perfusionists in the cardiac operating rooms, the nursing staff in the intensive care units and on 4 Tower, along with our pharamacy department are second to none when it comes to caring for our cardiac patients,” said Byron Mendenhall, M.D., Chief of Staff and Medical Director of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. “Our program is also unique in that the team consists of two cardiac fellowship trained anesthesiologists, myself and Dr. Brad Bachar, who work only in the cardiac operating rooms. This keeps our skills at a very high level.”

The Healthgrades report shows that Kaweah Health earned more awards for its clinical outcomes than any other hospital in the Central Valley. Kaweah Health was recognized in multiple areas including cardiac, neurosciences, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and critical care. These achievements appear in the recently-released Healthgrades 2021 Report to the Nation. This new report demonstrates the importance of hospital quality to both hospital leaders and consumers:

• Cardiac patients have a 54.5% lower risk of dying if treated at hospitals that received the America's 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery™, like KDMC, versus non-recipient hospitals.*
• Pulmonary patients have a 52.4% lower risk of dying if treated at hospitals that received the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care™, like KDMC, versus non-recipient hospitals.*
• Stroke patients have a 39.1% lower risk of dying if treated at hospitals that received the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Stroke Care™, like KDMC, versus non-recipient hospitals.*
• Critical care patients have a 29.9% lower risk of dying if treated at hospitals that received the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Critical Care™, like KDMC, versus non-recipient hospitals.*

Kaweah Health was also named among the top 10 percent in the nation for overall pulmonary services (treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia), critical care services (treatment of pulmonary embolism, respiratory system failure, sepsis and diabetic emergencies), and overall neurosciences care (stroke care and neurosurgery). Kaweah Health partners with a number of highly-skilled neurosurgeons, the majority of whom are faculty members in the USC Department of Neurological Surgery, to offer neurosurgery and neurospine services in Visalia. The partnership keeps patients with severe head injuries and neurosurgical conditions close to home.

Care for traumatic head injuries is important for the families and community members in this region because it dramatically reduces the time it takes for these patients to receive care, said Joseph Chen, M.D., Medical Director of Kaweah Health's Neurosciences Center, who provides care along with Neurosurgeons Charles Liu, M.D., Jonathan Russin, M.D., Brian Lee, M.D., Darrin Lee, M.D., Bryan Oh, M.D., Richard Williams, M.D. and Deven Khosla, M.D. “We’ve been incredibly pleased to work with Kaweah Health. Being recognized by HealthGrades shows the power of our stable partnership. We continue to be committed to this community and look forward to providing more advanced level care to Tulare and Kings counties,” Chen said.

Kaweah Health’s commitment to quality care was recognized with multiple awards in the following clinical areas:

Best Specialty

• America's 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery™ for 4 Years in a Row (2018-2021) – ONLY award recipient in the Central Valley*
• America's 100 Best Hospitals for Stroke Care™ in 2021
• America's 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care™ in 2021 – ONLY award recipient in the Central Valley*
• America's 100 Best Hospitals for Critical Care™ in 2021 – ONLY award recipient in the Central Valley*

Cardiac

• Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award™ for 5 Years in a Row (2017-2021)
  • Nation’s Top 5% for Cardiac Surgery for 4 Years in a Row (2018-2021)
  • Nation’s Top 10% for Cardiac Surgery for 5 Years in a Row (2017-2021)
• 5-Stars in Coronary Bypass Surgery for 5 Years in a Row (2017-2021)
• 5-Stars in Valve Surgery in 2021
• 5-Stars in Treatment of Heart Failure in 2021

Neurosciences

• Neurosciences Excellence Award™ for 2 Years in a Row (2020-2021) – ONLY in the Central Valley*
• Stroke Care Excellence Award™ for 3 Years in a Row (2019-2021)
  • Nation’s Top 5% for Treatment of Stroke for 3 Years in a Row (2019-2021)
  • Nation’s Top 10% for Neurosciences for 2 Years in a Row (2020-2021)
  • Nation’s Top 10% for Treatment of Stroke for 3 Years in a Row (2019-2021)
• 5-Stars for Treatment of Stroke for 7 Years in a Row (2015-2021)

Pulmonary

• Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ for 8 Years in a Row (2014-2021)
  • Nation’s Top 5% for Overall Pulmonary Services in 2021
  • Nation’s Top 10% for Overall Pulmonary Services for 8 Years in a Row (2014-2021)
• 5-Stars for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in 2021
• 5-Stars for Treatment of Pneumonia for 8 Years in a Row (2014-2021)

Gastrointestinal

• 5-Stars for Gallbladder Removal Surgery in 2021

Critical Care

• Critical Care Excellence Award™ for 2 Years in a Row (2020-2021)
  • Nation’s Top 5% for Critical Care in 2021
  • Nation’s Top 10% for Critical Care for 2 Years in a Row (2020-2021)
• 5-Stars for Treatment of Sepsis for 9 Years in a Row (2013-2021)
• 5-Stars for Treatment of Respiratory Failure for 3 Years in a Row (2019-2021)

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures, and evaluated comparative outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states.

Healthgrades recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-stars (statistically significantly better than expected), 3-stars (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected).

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*as defined by ca.gov