[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 23 (Monday, February 13, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING ARKANSAS HOSPITALS

 Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, it is my distinct privilege to 
recognize the work of five Arkansas hospitals that were honored by U.S. 
News and World Report as among the Nation's best hospitals and 
classified as ``high-performing'' in a variety of specialties for their 
outstanding care. These hospitals were judged against almost 5,000 
nationwide hospitals and met rigorous standards of medical care, 
including patient survival and safety, hospital reputation, and care-
related factors such as nursing and patient services. The ``high-
performing'' designation is reserved for hospitals that rank in the top 
25 percent of each category after further standards are applied. These 
five hospitals are tremendous assets to my State, and I am pleased to 
be able to praise their hard work and world-class medical care on the 
Senate floor.
  The U.S. News 2011-2012 Best Hospitals rankings recognized three 
hospitals in the Little Rock metropolitan area, which includes Little 
Rock, North Little Rock, and Conway. The University of Arkansas for 
Medical Sciences, UAMS, was recognized as a high-performing hospital in 
four specialty areas: cancer; obstetrics/gynecology; ear/nose/throat, 
ENT; and nephrology, kidney. Baptist Health Medical Center was named 
high-performing in the ENT and nephrology specialties, and St. Vincent 
Infirmary was recognized as high-performing in the ENT and orthopedics 
specialties.
  The 2011-2012 Best Hospitals list included two additional Arkansas 
facilities providing outstanding care outside of major metro areas: 
Sparks Regional Medical Center, in Fort Smith, and Washington Regional 
Medical Center, in Fayetteville. They were two of only 247 hospitals 
across the Nation recognized for their exceptional care as regional 
hospitals. Sparks was listed as ``high-performing'' in the pulmonology 
specialty and Washington Regional in geriatrics.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the achievements of 
UAMS, Baptist Health, St. Vincent, Sparks Regional, and Washington 
Regional. I am thankful for the men and women of these five facilities 
and all the health care professionals across my State. They are 
constantly striving to provide Arkansans with the best medical care 
possible, and I am proud of all their hard work.

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