Lee Health’s Cape Coral Hospital Named a Top 100 Hospital by Fortune/PINC AI™

Plus 100 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades®, an “A” from The Leapfrog Group, one of the Best Maternity Hospitals for 2022-2023 by the U.S. News & World Report, and more

(Cape Coral, Fla. – Oct. 6, 2023) --- Lee Health’s Cape Coral Hospital has been named among the nation’s Top 100 Hospitals by Fortune/PINC AI™, the technology and services brand of Premier, Inc. This is the second consecutive year that Cape Coral Hospital has received this distinction and the second year as an Everest Winner for achieving a top rate of improvement from 2017 to 2021. 

Researchers evaluated 2,644 U.S. hospitals and health systems based on public data sets of quality, patient perception, and financial information. 

Everest Award winners qualify with the fastest, most consistent improvement rates on the same balanced scorecard of performance measures. Both the 100 Top Hospitals® program and the Everest Award reflect performance across the whole organization, including clinical, operational, financial and patient perception. This year, there were 29 Everest Award winners.

“We are honored that Cape Coral Hospital has been recognized among the best in the nation for consistently providing safe, quality and compassionate care, and we are especially proud to receive the Everest Award,” said Dr. Larry Antonucci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lee Health. “This is a testament to the lasting impact everyone on our Cape Coral Hospital team has on our community and the thoughtful care they provide to our patients every day.”

According to PINC AI™, based on the data analyzed, it is estimated that if all hospitals performed at the same level of this year’s winners, more than 227,000 additional lives could have been saved, more than 432,000 additional patients could have been complication-free and more than $15.7 billion in inpatient costs could have been saved for the 2022 study year.

The goal of the 100 Top Hospitals program is to inspire hospital and health system leaders to strive for higher performance and provide added value to the communities they serve. The program leverages transparent, non-biased data to help inform strategies for sustained performance. Organizations do not apply to participate in the study, and award winners do not pay to market their honor.

Cape Coral Hospital is the preferred healthcare system for Southwest Florida’s largest city, and it is home to a wide range of services, including comprehensive women’s services, emergency services, imaging services, acute inpatient services, and a broad range of surgical services, including minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery. 

The PINC AI™ award is not the first celebration of the work happening at Cape Coral Hospital this year. For the third year in a row, it also was named one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades® and it was ranked one of America’s 250 Best Hospitals for the fifth consecutive year. 

Cape Coral Hospital also received an “A” grade from The Leapfrog Group. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 22 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,700 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice a year. 

It is one of the first hospitals in Florida to be named a Level II maternal care verified facility by The Joint Commission’s Maternal Levels of Care (MLC) verification program, in collaboration with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). As a Level II Specialty Care facility, Cape Coral Hospital has demonstrated that it can care for all women who qualify for a delivery at an accredited birth center for Level 1 Basic Care and all Level II Specialty Care for moderate- to high-risk antepartum, intrapartum or postpartum conditions.

Last year, Cape Coral Hospital had a first time cesarean section rate of 13.8%, which is well-below the national benchmark of 23.6% for pregnant women having their first cesarean section. The hospital’s rate was at 31.9% in 2019, decreasing by almost 20 points in 2022. 

The U.S. News & World Report rated Cape Coral Hospital as one of the Best Maternity Hospitals for 2022-2023 for its dedication to high-quality care and uncomplicated pregnancies. It also looked at five different factors: Scheduled early deliveries, C-section rates in low-risk women, newborn complications, rate of exclusive breast milk feeding and option for vaginal births after a cesarean.

The hospital received the 2023 American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association’s (ASA) Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus Target Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll Quality Achievement Award, which is the highest possible level. Hospitals receiving the Get With The Guidelines® Gold Plus Achievement Award have reached an aggressive goal of treating patients to core standard levels of care, as outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association® for two consecutive calendar years or more. In addition, those hospitals have demonstrated compliance to an additional level of quality during the 24-month or greater period.

Cape Coral Hospital was awarded the Nurses Caring for Healthcare Elders (NICHE) award. It has also obtained a DNV Advanced Hip and Knee Program Certification, making it an orthopedic destination as well.

“We are proud of the team at Cape Coral Hospital as their commitment to high quality and safe care is evident through these achievements,” said Candace S. Smith, Chief Nurse Executive at Cape Coral Hospital.

“It truly is the dedicated, quality driven and compassionate care that each team member delivers at Cape Coral Hospital, whether it is our bedside nurse, transporter, provider, therapist, or anyone on our support staff, the goal is the same; to take the best care of our patients, like they are a family member. This is the essence of our culture,” said Cherrie Morris, Chief Physician Executive at Cape Coral Hospital. 

To learn more about Cape Coral Hospital, please visit www.leehealth.org.