East Georgia Regional Medical Center was recently named to the Georgia Hospital Association's (GHA) Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Core Measures Honor Roll. It is one of 17 hospitals in Georgia to be placed in the Chairman's category, the highest on the list.
      The only other hospital in this area to make it into the Chairman's category was St. Joseph's in Savannah. The next closest was Doctors Hospital in Augusta.
      "It is our mission to ensure that each of our patients receives the right care at the right time and this recognition validates this," said Bob Bigley, chief executive officer of East Georgia Regional. "This honor is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our staff who are constantly working to make excellent care even better."
      The honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), which administers the nation's Medicare and Medicaid programs. The data was collected from January 2011 to December 2011.
      Hospitals are required to submit care data to CMS, which details how well a hospital's caregivers adhere to a list of Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) core measures. These measures are the clinical processes of care that are known to be the most effective methods of treatment for surgical patients and patients who have suffered heart attacks, pneumonia and heart failure.
      Not only is East Georgia Regional receiving accolades, its CEO is as well. Bigley was recently named the 2011 Chief Executive Officer of the Year by his employer Health Management Associates (HMA), majority owner of East Georgia Regional.
      To put Bigley's award into perspective, I have provided the following statistics. HMA has 70 hospitals in 15 states with approximately 10,500 licensed beds and more than 40,500 employees. In addition, HMA recruited more than 650 physicians last year, bringing its total medical staff to 10,000 physicians.
      Clearly, East Georgia Regional and its staff are "on a roll."
      So, until next Tuesday, I bid you au revoir.
      Got a scoop for Jan? Call her at (912) 489-9463 or email her at jmoore@statesboroherald.com