Viera Hospital One of Only 4 in Florida to Receive Top Medicare Rating
The Brevard County Board of Commissioners issued a proclamation Tuesday recognizing Health First’s Viera Hospital for its recent 5-star designation for patient experience.
Photo courtesy of Health First provided for your use: Brevard County Commissioner Curt Smith (from left) with Deborah Angerami, COO, Health First’s Viera Hospital, and Bill Calhoun, President, Community Hospitals for Health First.
Viera Hospital was one of only four hospitals in Florida – and the only one in Central Florida – to receive the top rating from the federal government. Overall, only 251 hospitals (7 percent) in the U.S. earned the top mark.
“We are pleased to accept the proclamation on behalf of our dedicated associates, medical staff and volunteers,” said Bill Calhoun, President, Community Hospitals for Health First. “We are honored that our community hospital has been recognized in such a way by our Brevard County Board of Commissioners.”
Calhoun and Viera Hospital’s Chief Operating Office Deborah Angerami were in attendance for the reading of the proclamation.
The 5-star rating is reserved for the highest performing hospitals in customer service and is based on patient experience scores reported in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. The survey covers topics such as how well doctors and nurses communicate with patients, how responsive hospital staff are to patient needs, how clean and quiet hospital environments are and how well patients are prepared for post-hospital settings.
It was the first time the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) evaluated 3,500 hospitals using a one to five star-rating system for patient experience in an effort to make it easier for consumers to choose a hospital and understand the quality of care it delivers.