Penrose-St. Francis' emergency department receives top scores

Penrose-St. Francis Health Services' emergency medicine department scored in the top 5 percent nationally in a new survey by the rankings group HealthGrades, which gave the system its Emergency Medicine Excellence Award. The rankings were based on Medicare data and looked at the outcomes for more than 7 million patients treated between 2007 and 2009 for 12 common life-threatening conditions, such as heart attacks, pneumonia and strokes. HealthGrades says that being treated at one of the 268 hospitals receiving the award offered patients a 40-percent lower risk of death from those dozen conditions than at average hospitals. It's the second year Penrose-St. Franics has received the award, which covers the emergency departments at both Penrose Main and St. Francis Medical Center.