Becker's Hospital Review

18 18 The List Issue Becker's Hospital Review is pleased to present its list of 50 Great Health Systems to Know, an ac- companiment to the list of 100 Great Hospitals in America | 2015. e 50 health systems on this list range in size and location but are tied together in their pursuit to provide high-quality healthcare to the communi- ties they serve. To compile this list, the Becker's editorial team conducted research, choosing systems that have received several awards for clinical and general excellence. e team also queried healthcare lead- ers on what systems stood out to them in terms of overall excellence, and those systems were consid- ered for inclusion. e following are profiles of 50 great nonprofit health systems in the U.S., listed alphabetically. Note: is list is not a ranking. Health systems could not pay for inclusion on this list. Adventist Health System (Altamonte Springs, Fla.). While this system is based in Florida, it has 45 facilities spanning 10 states with nearly 8,100 licensed beds. It was established in 1973 to sup- port and strengthen the Seventh-day Adventist healthcare organizations in the region. e system employs more than 74,000 people in its hospitals, nursing homes, home health agen- cies and headquarters. Adventist is a four-time recipient of the Gallup Great Workplace Award, recognizing the system's ability to create an en- gaged workplace culture. In April, Adventist received three awards from Heart of Florida United Way. One was the Chair- man's Award for exceeding volunteer, leadership and financial expectations, another was the Community Champion Award for using best practices to increase donor participation and the other was for Don Jernigan, the system's president and CEO, who received the Executive Champion Award. Advocate Health Care (Downers Grove, Ill.). Advocate, a faith-based, nonprofit health system based in the Chicago suburbs, is the largest health system in Illinois. e system was formed in 1995 by a merger between Evangelical Health Systems Corp. and Lutheran General HealthSys- tem, which have histories dating back to 1906 and 1897, respectively. Now 20 years old, Advocate of- fers more than 250 care sites, including 12 acute- care hospitals. It also boasts the state's largest inte- grated children's network. e system is soon to grow even larger, as it is planning a merger with Evanston, Ill.-based NorthShore University HealthSystem. e merg- er is still under FTC review. If approved, it would form a 16-hospital system called Advocate North- Shore Health Partners. Advocate is widely respected for care quality, as Truven Health Analytics named it as one of its 15 Top Health Systems in 2014, and many of its hos- pitals make Truven's list of 100 Top Hospitals and are Magnet-recognized for nursing excellence. Asante (Medford, Ore.). Asante is a three-hospi- tal, community-led health system governed by a board of directors comprised of local volunteers and physicians. As the largest healthcare provider in nine counties, Asante provides comprehensive medical care to more than 580,000 people through- out southern Oregon and northern California. Asante and the communities it serves are increas- ingly working toward environmental sustainability. e system pursues recycling and energy-saving policies whenever possible — from encouraging employees on an individual level to large-scale con- struction projects. Asante provides carpooling ser- vices and incentives to employees, is reducing plastic and paper use in food service and uses green-certi- fied cleaning products wherever possible. Several of Asante's capital investments are Lead- ership in Energy and Environmental Design- certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, such as the NICU Phase I, II and III, the Creekside Laboratory and the Women's Center, among oth- ers. Additionally, Truven Health Analytics named Asante to its 2015 list of 15 Top Health Systems. Ascension (St. Louis). In the years since its cre- ation in 1999, Ascension has become the largest Catholic and nonprofit health system in the na- tion. e system employs more than 153,000 people in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Ascension's health ministries — health systems that are members of Ascension — are spread throughout the country and have made major strides in the area of quality improvement recent- ly. For example, Ascension's members decreased the number of early elective deliveries that are not medically indicated by 80 percent in 2014. Addi- tionally, across all health ministries, readmissions dropped 16 percent, or about 5,500 patients, in 2014. St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis, part of Ascension, was named to Truven Health Analyt- ics' 15 Top Health Systems list in 2015. Ascension has a mission to serve people living in poverty and other vulnerable persons, and in fiscal year 2014 it lived up to that mission: e health ministries of the system provided $1.8 bil- lion worth of care to people living in poverty and other community benefits. e system's employ- ees are also committed to helping others, and in fiscal year 2014 associates contributed $2.3 mil- lion to their local United Way campaigns. Allina Health (Minneapolis). is 13-hospital nonprofit system has more than 26,000 employ- ees and 5,000 associated and employed physicians providing care to the 108,795 patients admitted to its hospitals and 1.3 million outpatient admis- sions each year. Allina Health has an annual net operating revenue of $3.6 billion. In 2015, for the first time, Allina Health was named one of the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation by Truven Health Analytics. Additionally, two of Al- lina's hospitals — Abbott Northwestern and Mercy — were named the No. 1 and No. 2 hospitals in the Twin Cities by U.S. News & World Report for 2014-15, and four of the system's hospitals landed on Truven's 100 Top Hospitals list in 2015. e system is committed to giving back to the community it serves. One of its programs — the Phillips Eye Institute's Early Youth Eyecare Com- munity Initiative — provides vision screening to nearly 28,000 children annually in Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools. e Phillips Eye Insti- tute is part of Allina Health, and the program was recently named a Program of Excellence through the Hospital Charitable Services Award. Aurora Health Care (Milwaukee). is non- profit system encompasses 15 hospitals, 159 clinic sites and 70 retail pharmacies located throughout eastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois. e system got its start in 1984 when St. Luke's Medi- cal Center and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Milwaukee merged to become St. Luke's Sa- maritan Health Care. Aurora Health Care took on its current name in 1987. Now, the system sees more than 1.2 million unique patients each year and produces about $4.1 billion in annual revenue. Aurora has 30,000 caregivers, including 1,500 employed physicians, and also boasts the largest homecare organization in Wisconsin. Some of Aurora's hospitals have been ranked among the best in the nation. Aurora Medical Center in Oshkosh and Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay — a joint venture of Aurora Health Care and BayCare Clinic, a physician-owned specialty- care clinic — appeared on Truven Health Analytics' list of 100 Top Hospitals in 2015 Banner Health (Phoenix). Banner Health operates 28 hospitals and other clinics in seven states, from Alaska to Arizona. is year, the system underwent historic growth when it completed a merger with the University of Arizona Health Network in Tuc- son, to form Banner-University Medicine. Banner- University Medicine is the new academic medicine division of Banner Health that includes three aca- demic medical centers. Banner Health has been named one of the nation's 15 Top Health Systems by Truven Health Analyt- ics three times, in 2013, 2012 and 2009. Twenty- one of its hospitals have achieved HIMSS Analyt- ics Stage 7 for EHR use. e system boasts a 55-bed simulation medical center, the largest "virtual hospital" of its kind. is center is a space for Banner clinicians to 50 Great Health Systems to Know By Heather Punke and Tamara Rosin

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