Ventura County Medical Center recognized for surgical quality in international assessment

Ventura County Medical Center has been recognized for surgical quality in an international assessment by the American College of Surgeons, officials announced recently.

The public medical center in Ventura was one of 88 hospitals located in the United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates cited in the organization's National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. The hospitals were honored for achieving "meritorious" outcomes in care of surgical patients last year.

VCMC was recognized in a field of 592 eligible hospitals, officials said.

Hospitals are evaluated based on outcomes to be avoided after surgery in eight clinical areas. Included are mortality, ventilator use for more than 48 hours, renal failure, cardiac arrests, pneumonia and urinary tract infections.

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The program provides participating hospitals with tools, analyses and reports to make informed decisions about improving quality of care, officials at the American College of Surgeons said. 

The 88 hospitals achieved meritorious scores for all cases, high-risk cases or both types of cases. VCMC was one of 56 hospitals recognized for both high-risk and all cases. Both inpatient and outpatient surgeries were included in the assessment based on a random sample of adult surgeries at VCMC's main hospital in Ventura.  

The program tracks how well patients do in the period ending 30 days after surgery because studies show many complications arise after patients are discharged. The results are adjusted for health risks and the complexity of procedures, the surgeons' college said. 

Ventura County Medical Center

"This (recognition) tells patients that from a surgical standpoint, this is a very high-level, top-quality hospital," said Dr. Javier Romero, director of surgery at VCMC. "It is objective data that is risk adjusted."

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons based in Chicago. Founded in 1913 to raise standards of  practice and improve quality of care for surgical patients, the college has more than 82,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.

Kathleen Wilson covers the Ventura County government, including the county health system, politics and social services. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.