Lakeland Receives Healthgrades® Patient Safety Excellence Award™ for Second Year in a Row

(ST. JOSEPH) – Lakeland HealthCare recently received the Healthgrades 2014 Patient Safety Excellence Award, a

distinction that places Lakeland within the top 5 percent of all hospitals for excellent performance in 

safeguarding patients from serious, potentially preventable complications during their hospital stays. This is the 

second consecutive year that Lakeland has earned this honor. 

The 2014 Patient Safety Excellence Award highlights those hospitals that have achieved better than 

expected performance for 13 of 14 patient safety indicators (PSIs) evaluated by the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality. These indicators measure how often hospitals experience a preventable patient safety 

event.

“Due to the high importance placed on our culture of safety at Lakeland, we have been able to 

outperform expectations in the prevention of safety incidents,” said Eileen Willits, RN, PhD, Vice President, Patient 

Care Services, Chief Nursing Executive, Co-Chief of Quality. “This distinction recognizes our commitment to 

preventing errors from occurring and preventing harm to our patients.” 

For more information about the Healthgrades Quality reports, visit www.healthgrades.com/quality. 

About Lakeland HealthCare

Lakeland HealthCare is a non-profit, community-owned health system, which includes three hospitals, an 

outpatient surgery center, rehabilitation centers, long-term care, hospice, home care services, and physician 

practices. In 2013, Lakeland Medical Center, St. Joseph and Lakeland Hospital, Niles were named among the 

nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® as ranked by Truven Health Analytics. Lakeland has over 4,000 employees who 

provide clinical and support services at locations throughout southwest Michigan, and partners with more than 

400 affiliated physicians and other providers. For more information, visit www.lakelandhealth.org.