Peconic Bay Medical Center a Bright Spot Among NYC-Metro Hospitals

Nationwide, the New York City area fared rather poorly in a Consumer Reports survey on hospital safety across the nation. 

For reasons that included a patient diversity that sometimes leads to miscommunication, or economically disadvantaged patients who run a higher risk of readmission, and more, 75 of 81 area hospitals scored below the nationwide average in the survey.

But on Friday morning, celebrated its status as second among those 81 hospitals in patient safety - overall, 12 percent above the national average - a status President and CEO Andrew Mitchell said is a testament to the staff's day-to-day devotion to patient care and an institutional commitment to improving facilities and operations to enable that care.

"I think as you hear from my colleagues today, you'll understand from the construction of this building - the Kanas Center for Advanced Surgery, which was specifically designed around advanced infectious control principals which largely drove the results of this survey," Mitchell said. "To the Board of Director patient safety rounds - where the Board doesn't allow anyone from management to attend because we want to make sure patients are telling us what's really happening at the hospital - to an unbelievably dedicated staff that puts best practices and patient care excellence above anything else, including their families and personal lives, how we got rated number two."

The Kanas Center for Advanced Surgery, an extension that opened less than three years ago, is one of the more recent tools the hospital has added to its toolbelt in recent years. Leaders also point to the daVinci surgical robotics system that allows for decreased risk of infection, and faster recovery times for patients. 

The four main measuring sticks in the survey included hospital-acquired infections, readmissions, and communication about both medication and discharge.

Of the 81 hospitals in the New York City metro area, none of the hospitals scored above the nationwide average in any of the latter three categories.

Gerry Zunno, the hospital's vice president of patient care, said that in resposne to the survey the hospital has already made up pins to give to patients that state "tell me about side effects" in order to improve communication. While staff had been doing this, he said, communicating in a clearer fashion will be a goal moving forward.

"We put some runs up on the scoreboard," Zunno said. "But the game is ongoing."