St. Francis Hospital has been named a 2005/2006 Consumer Hospital of Choice by the National Research Corporation (NRC). The award is determined by consumers and identifies the hospitals that have the highest quality and image.

“This award is evidence that the people of Columbus and the surrounding area recognize St. Francis as the hospital of choice for this region,” said St. Francis’ President and CEO Robert Granger. “We are very pleased to receive this honor. It is indicative of the exceptional staff at St. Francis and their efforts to strive for the highest degree of quality in patient care and customer service. They have earned the trust of the community over many years of outstanding and compassionate care. Our job now is to continue that legacy.”

NRC Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Hays said that winners are determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected in the company’s annual NRC Healthcare Market Guide® study.  Of the 3,000 hospitals named by consumers in the study, the winning facilities rank highest in their Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s), as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.  The MSA for our area includes Muscogee, Harris, Russell, Chattahoochee and Marion Counties.  The 2005/06 NRC Healthcare Market Guide study surveyed over 200,000 households representing 400,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia.

St. Francis ranked higher than any other hospital in Columbus on four out of four primary categories: best overall quality, best nurses, best doctors, and best reputation/image.
Though this is the 10th year that NRC has presented the Consumer Hospital of Choice Award to hospitals across the country, it is the first time they have presented it to a hospital in Columbus, making St. Francis the first local winner. St. Francis is among only 204 hospitals nationwide that received the award this year

The 2005/06 Healthcare Market Guide is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive study of its kind.  No other study used to measure hospital performance and preferences contains more consumer responses than NRC’s study. The study has a margin of error of + or – 0.2 percent at a national level.  Co-winners are named when scores fall within the statistical margin of error for a given market.