EvergreenHealth has achieved its fifth designation as a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence from Healthgrades, placing the health care organization among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationally for its quality patient care and superior clinical performance.

Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals, releases this distinction annually for the nation’s top hospitals based on their clinical outcomes in terms of risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complication rates. This year, Kirkland-based EvergreenHealth is one of 10 (out of the 92) hospitals in Washington state to receive the prestigious award.

“Our purpose to enrich the health and well-being of every life we touch is what drives our work every single day. Today, we’re honored to live this purpose in celebrating this clinical achievement award earned by our dedicated physicians, nurses, staff and volunteers,” said Bob Malte, CEO of EvergreenHealth. “While awards like these validate our mission to provide the highest quality care and patient experience, the reason our teams work passionately is to deliver the best possible outcomes, safety, experience and value for our patients and their families.”

EvergreenHealth strategic partner Virginia Mason was also recognized as a 2014 Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence by Healthgrades.

According to the Healthgrades report, one among many distinctions of a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence is that these hospitals have an overall 26 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate across 19 procedures and conditions.   Healthgrades is the nation’s most trusted source of physician information and hospital quality ratings. It evaluates each of the nation’s 4,500 nonfederal hospitals in 30 procedures and diagnoses for this award.  Mortality and complication rates are risk adjusted, which takes into account differing levels of severity of patient illness at different hospitals and allows for hospitals to be compared equally.

EvergreenHealth received additional accolades for 2014 from Healthgrades, including being named one of “America’s 100 Best Hospitals” for pulmonary care and gastrointestinal care, placing the organization among the top performing hospitals nationally for clinical excellence in each of those specialties.