FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 13, 2006

Published research performed by the Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management ranks Mercy Medical Center—Des Moines ninth in the nation for the quality of care for heart attack (Acute Myocardial Infarction— AMI), congestive heart failure—(CHF) and pneumonia.

The ranking, published in The Commonwealth Fund newsletter Quality Matters, is based on clinical data provided by 3,558 hospitals across the United States to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS— along with the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), American Hospital Association (AHA) and healthcare consumer groups, including AARP, formed the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). HQA is dedicated to establishing a consistent and objective national database to help define quality care. Before 2004 no such national quality database existed. The data reviewed in the Harvard study covered 10 indicators of quality care for patients being treated for AMI, CHF and pneumonia. These indicators range from appropriately providing life-saving medicines to performing important diagnostic tests.

The data and review showed Mercy Medical Center—Des Moines met, or significantly exceeded, the national and state average measures for care reported.

“Mercy Medical Center is doing a fantastic job for all of the measures reviewed,” said study leader Ashish Kumar Jha, M.D., MPH, an Assistant Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health Policy and Management. “The quality indicators confirm that for these critical therapies, patients at Mercy are getting some of the best heart and pneumonia care in the country.”

“We believe that every Iowan who affords us the privilege of serving them, no matter what the diagnosis, should receive best practice care,” says David Vellinga, Mercy president & CEO. “Our dedicated physicians, nurses and clinical professionals are committed to achieving this goal. We are extremely proud of the high level of care Mercy already provides our heart and pneumonia patients.”

CMS will continue to expand the scope of its quality measures and distribute that information on an ongoing basis on its Hospital Compare website (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov). The Commonwealth Fund commissioned the Harvard study. The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation dedicated to helping assure quality medical care and performance.

Mercy is a recipient of the National Research Corporation Consumer Choice Award. Mercy is the only Des Moines hospital to receive this distinction. The award is based on consumer response data. Solucient has once again ranked Mercy as a Top 100 Heart Hospital for care provided cardiac patients. The Mercy Chest Pain Center is nationally accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Mercy is the only facility in Iowa with this distinction. JCAHO has given Mercy’s CHF Clinic the JCAHO Gold Seal for Disease Management Program Certification in CHF.