Mountainside, one of the two hospitals that serves Verona, got good marks in Consumer Reports‘ first ever guide to safer surgery.
Last week, the magazine released its analysis of operations at 2,463 U.S. hospitals. Mountainside, which is now part of Hackensack University Medical Center, got the second highest ranking in New Jersey, right below its parent hospital.
Consumer Reports‘ surgical complications rankings were based on the percentage of Medicare patients undergoing surgery who die in the hospital or stay longer than expected. The magazine looked at 27 kinds of scheduled surgeries, and developed its own rating for five procedures: back surgery, hip and knee replacements, and procedures to remove blockages in heart or neck arteries. The magazine adjusted its ratings to minimize differences among hospitals due to the types of patients they serve.
Livingston-based Saint Barnabas wound up in the middle of the magazine’s report, with the open circle that Consumer Reports uses to give an evaluation that is neither good nor bad.
St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, which some Verona parents favor for pediatric emergencies, was third to last in the New Jersey rankings, which covered 59 hospitals.
You can read the magazine’s guide here.
