Jackson,Miss. (October 13, 2009) – Orthopedicservices including joint replacements and Spine Surgery services at River Oaks Hospital have once again been ranked among the topfive percent in the nation and the best in Mississippi by a new study releasedtoday by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.The HealthGrades study evaluates objective patient outcomes in the nation’s 5,000hospitals.  River Oaks Hospital is proudto be recognized as a quality leader for these specialties not only in theJackson market, but throughout the country.

River Oaks Hospital wasalso rated 5-star for total knee replacement, total hip replacement, back andneck surgery without spinal fusion, and spinal fusion surgeries.  River Oaks Hospital is the only hospital inMississippi to be a repeat-recipient of HealthGrades Specialty ExcellenceAwards™ for:

• Spine Surgery Excellence Award™ - three consecutive years
• Joint Replacement Excellence Award™ - two consecutive years
• Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award™ - two consecutive years

In January2008, River Oaks Hospital put into practice its “Process for Perfection”quality improvement program which included, among other things, continuingeducation for employees and physicians, the implementation of best demonstratedpractices for Emergency Room and Inpatient processes, the implementation ofevidence based protocols for the appropriate quality indicators, more timelymonthly internal reporting analyses and monthly operational reviews, and theassignment of authority, accountability and responsibility for improvement forall quality indicators.

When askedabout the recent announcement, Dennis R. “Denny” Bruns, FACHE, President andCEO of River Oaks Hospital said, “Our hospital strives to provide qualityhealthcare to the patients we serve everyday.We have a well-balanced combination of highly-regarded physicians,dedicated staff members and a longstanding reputation for delivering medicalcare in a personalized, patient-focused environment.  Our team works very hard to continually earnthe trust and confidence of our patients – we consider it a privilege to carefor them.

HealthGrades’ hospitalratings and awards reflect the track record of patient outcomes at hospitals inthe form of mortality and complication rates. HealthGrades rates hospitalsindependently based on data that hospitals submit to the federal government. Nohospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.

For 28 procedures andtreatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality andcomplication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-starrating have mortality or complication rates that are below the nationalaverage, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means thehospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital’smortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment arestatistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patientpopulations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data toallow for apples-to-apples comparisons.