Ocean Medical Center Honored For Patient Safety Excellence By National Group

BRICK, NJ — Ocean University Medical Center in Brick has been recognized for safety and patient experience by Healthgrades, a comprehensive national database of ratings and comparisons for physicians, hospitals and health care providers.

The hospital, part of the Hackensack Meridian network, is one of 14 in New Jersey and among more than 400 across the country that were honored with either the 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Award or the 2024 Outstanding Patient Experience Award.

The Patient Safety Excellence Award recognizes hospitals nationwide for high-quality care and prevention of serious safety events during hospital stays. The Outstanding Patient Excellence Award is based on the responses of patients to surveys about their particular hospital, covering everything from communications with the doctors and nurses to the quietness and cleanliness.

Only 79 of 444 hospitals nationwide received both awards.

Ocean University Medical Center was honored with the Patient Safety Excellence Award.

The Patient Safety Excellence Award was presented to the top 10 percent of hospitals, based on an analysis of required data reporting in 13 patient safety measures. Read more about the methodology.

Healthgrades said that if all hospitals observed the same protocols as those in this category, they could have avoided more than 97,000 patient safety events between 2020 and 2022, the report said. The analysis revealed that patients treated at recipient hospitals are less likely to experience the following safety events compared to patients treated at non-recipient hospitals:

• In-hospital falls resulting in fracture (approximately 52 percent less likely)
• Collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest (approximately 56 percent less likely)
• Pressure sores or bed sores acquired in the hospital (approximately 67 percent less likely)
• Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital (approximately 71 percent less likely).