2017 is proving to be another award-winning year for Texas Health Southlake, which has received seven national and local awards recognizing its excellence in patient experience, patient safety, orthopedics, nursing staff and physicians.  

Texas Health Southlake was named one of America’s best hospitals in three categories by the Women’s Choice Award^®, a trusted referral source for the best in healthcare:

• Patient Safety: This award signifies that Texas Health Southlake is in the top 15 percent of 3,005 U.S. hospitals for patient safety, which is the only award recognizing excellence in patient safety based on robust criteria that considers patient satisfaction and clinical excellence.  Texas Health Southlake is one of 451 award recipients representing hospitals that have met the highest standards for patient safety in the U.S. 
• Patient Experience: This award signifies that Texas Health Southlake has been ranked within the top 100 hospitals of similar size based on number of beds. The methodology used evaluates specific Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems(HCAHPS) survey results along with primary research about women’s healthcare preferences. Texas Health Southlake is one of 400 award recipients representing the hospitals that have met the highest standards for patient experience in the U.S.  
• Orthopedics: A hospital must have arthroscopy, joint replacement and spine surgery orthopedic services available to patients, onsite physical therapy, and an MRI in order to qualify for this award.  Texas Health Southlake is one of 374 award recipients representing the hospitals that have met the highest standards for orthopedics care in the U.S. 

“These prestigious awards speak directly to our aggressive efforts to ensure our patient’s receive a 5-star experience at our hospital – I consider the awards a huge feather in our cap,” commented Traci Bernard, president of Texas Health Southlake, noting the hospital ranks in the 99 percentile nationally for all quality standards set forth by the HCAHPS, making it one of the top healthcare institutions in the U.S. 

Texas Health Southlake also received national recognition in the 8^th Annual Case in Point Platinum Awards, presented by Decision Health, which honors programs that educate and empower patients, improve adherence and wellness, manage quality care, and contain healthcare costs. Texas Health Southlake won the award in the Patient Safety – Hospital Acquired Infections category, which recognized the hospital’s Patient Safety and Infection Prevention Program. Texas Health Southlake also received honorable mention recognition in the Patient Safety – Communications category and Community Programs category.

Recognizing the importance of its nursing staff, Texas Health Southlake was awarded The Hurst Gold Standard of Nursing Award for achieving excellence in quality nursing, which significantly contributes to the hospital’s overall patient satisfaction rating. The Hurst Gold Standard of Nursing Award is given to hospital nursing staffs that achieve top tier weighted scores, significantly above the national average on these performance measures.

“Nurses make up the majority of hospital staff and are the primary providers of patient care in our hospital,” said Debra Ennis, chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services.  “Around the clock, they not only attend to patients’ clinical needs, they are there supporting patients and their families emotionally as well. It is wonderful that nurses are being celebrated and we are grateful to Hurst for honoring our staff with this special award.”

At the local level, Texas Health Southlake was named the Best Local Hospital/Emergency Room by readers of the Southlake Courier-Journal, and O. David Taunton, MD, was named a 2017 Healthcare Hero in Fort Worth Business Press. Dr. Taunton was chief of staff for 10 years at Texas Health Southlake.

“It has never been about the awards, it is about doing the right thing and as a result, the awards follow. If each quality, service, and financial decision has the best interest of the employees, physicians and patients, then we are aligned for success,” stated Bernard.