Study Finds Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Elmbrook Memorial Receives 5-Star Ratings and Top Regional Rankings for Key Services

Brookfield, WI (October 15, 2009) - Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare - Elmbrook Memorial announced that it has received 5-Star ratings and top regional and national rankings for clinical quality from HealthGrades, the leading independent health care ratings organization. The recognition is based on HealthGrades’ twelfth annual Hospital Quality in America study, released today, which analyzes patient outcomes at virtually all of the nation’s hospitals.

In the 2010 HealthGrades study, Elmbrook Memorial ranks best in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis region for overall orthopedic services, joint replacement surgery and general surgery. The hospital ranks in the top five percent nationally for general surgery and has received the 2010 HealthGrades General Surgery Excellence Award™.

Additionally, Elmbrook Memorial received 5-Star ratings for quality of care in joint replacement surgery, spinal fusion surgery, general surgery, appendectomy, gall bladder surgery, and treatment of bowel obstruction.

“Once again, on a national scale, Elmbrook Memorial’s commitment to quality is recognized as outstanding,” said Debra Standridge, President, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – North Market. “I could not be more proud of our physicians and associates for making this designation possible.”

The HealthGrades study, the largest annual report of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes in nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records from 5,000 hospitals over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. This year’s study found:

• Across all 17 procedures and diagnoses in which mortality was studied, there was an approximate 72% lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital, and a 52% lower chance of dying in a 5-star hospital compared with the national average.

• If all hospitals performed at the level of a 5-star rated hospital across the 17 procedures and diagnoses studied, 224,537 Medicare lives could potentially have been saved from 2006 through 2008.

The new 2010 HealthGrades hospital ratings are posted at www.healthgrades.com, HealthGrades’ public Web site.

HealthGrades Ratings

HealthGrades’ hospital ratings and awards reflect the track record of patient outcomes at hospitals in the form of mortality and complication rates. HealthGrades rates hospitals independently based on data that hospitals submit to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.

For 28 procedures and treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital’s mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for apples-to-apples comparisons.

More information on today’s HealthGrades study, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com.