[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 39 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 MILLS-PENINSULA HOSPITAL HONORED FOR OUTSTANDING CARE AND PERFORMANCE

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 11, 1999

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct privilege today to 
recognize the Mills-Peninsula Hospital, which is located in my 
congressional district. In an annual study, ``100 Top Hospitals: 
Benchmarks for Success,'' Mills-Peninsula was named one of the top 
hospitals for 1998 in the United States. The study was conducted by 
HCIA, a health care information company based in Baltimore, and William 
M. Mercer, a New York-based human resources management consulting firm. 
Nine measures of clinical, operational, and financial performance were 
used in the study to determine accurately the best hospitals.
  Mills-Peninsula is a not-for-profit health service organization, and 
it has managed to improve and maintain existing services, despite 
battling extreme difficulties associated with the costs of managed 
care. By combining the highest quality care with the most cost-
efficient operation, Mills-Peninsula has increased the standard of 
medical care and quality of life in the Bay Area. We are truly honored 
to have such an outstanding hospital located in our area.
  Managed health care has sought to improve cost reductions and to 
streamline operations. The standards of excellence in health care 
management are becoming ever higher. Mills-Peninsula has thrived in 
this challenging atmosphere and continued to deliver a high level of 
care, and at the same time shown an ability to respond to change.
  Mr. Speaker, the recognition of Mills-Peninsula Hospital has only 
confirmed the high value which residents of my district already place 
on the hospital's services. I offer my deepest and warmest 
congratulation to those individuals that have contributed to the 
success of Mills-Peninsula Hospital.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the editorial praising Mills-Peninsula 
Hospital from The Independent be placed in the Record.

                    Peninsula Hospital among top 100

       Bravo to Peninsula Hospital for being named among the top 
     100 performing hospitals in the nation by the consulting firm 
     of William M. Mercer Inc., of New York, NY, the honor is one 
     that should reassure residents in the area that they have one 
     of the top hospitals in the country taking care of their 
     health needs.
       The study, naming Peninsula Hospital, was published in the 
     December issue of Modern Health care magazine. This 
     assessment of the nations benchmark acute care hospitals is 
     published annually by Mercer and HCIA Inc., a data processing 
     company based in Baltimore.
       The study considers three separate categories including 
     financial management, operations and clinical practice. Each 
     category is then broken down into smaller components and 
     evaluated.
       The elements considered under clinical practices include 
     mortality rates of complications during treatment. The 
     information is published to show legitimate health care data 
     about patients and health care facilities to measure 
     performance.
       This is a study that is in its sixth year of identifying 
     the top management teams and best run facilities in the 
     country. The longer the publication studies industry trends, 
     the more established and prestigious its list becomes. People 
     throughout the country are concerned and interested in the 
     performance of their community hospitals and this rating 
     hospital care.
       In an interview with this newspaper, Mills-Peninsula CEO 
     Robert Merwin explained the price pressures Peninsula is 
     under, to maintain services at the hospital. Merwin explained 
     that the business community, Medicare and the costs of 
     managed care, put pressure on all hospitals throughout the 
     country, so maintaining standards of excellence was a major 
     challenge.
       We are happy to see that Peninsula has met that challenge 
     and among the thousands of hospitals throughout the nation, 
     been rated one of the best. That makes us proud of Peninsula 
     and of the management and staff at the hospital who have 
     carried the ball of excellence in recent years while the 
     health care industry has been in radical change.
       We know what happens when change comes to an industry, when 
     economic pressures for change bring so many disruptions to 
     the way a hospital does business. We commend the folks at 
     Peninsula for not letting these changes disrupt the quality 
     of health care they provide to the community. This rating is 
     welcome news, especially in light of the fact that a decision 
     must be made soon to spend millions of dollars either 
     retrofitting peninsula or rearing it down to build a new 
     facility.
       We don't know which decision the powers to be will make but 
     we do know that Peninsula is a very special hospital facility 
     that is valued by everyone in the community. The rating only 
     bears out the fact that its management and staff have been 
     outstanding in face of unbelievable stress in the industry. 
     We congratulate the people, all of them, that made this 
     rating possible and look forward to the continuation of an 
     evaluation that places Peninsula among the top 100 hospitals 
     in the nation.

     

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