LaGRANGE — West Georgia Health announced this week it achieved its best quality rankings as determined by CareChex, a Quality Rating Service of Comparion, an independent healthcare research company.

West Georgia Health ranked in the top three of all Georgia hospitals in the 2016 rankings and the top 100 U.S. hospitals in seven categories for medical excellence. For patient safety, West Georgia Health ranked in the top four of all Georgia hospitals and the top 100 U.S. hospitals in four different categories.

For patient safety, the 2016 CareChex rankings also placed West Georgia Health among the top 10 percent of all U.S., Southern region and Georgia hospitals in the following clinical categories: cardiac care, major bowel procedures and pulmonary care.

“This year’s CareChex report is our best one ever, and our excellent rankings are a testament to our employees’ teamwork and their dedication to delivering safe, high quality care to every patient they serve,” said West Georgia Health President and CEO Jerry Fulks. “We don’t seek out awards or special recognition — that’s not part of our culture. So when you get recognized by an independent third party that has conducted research to identify top ranked medical excellence and patient safety, it’s very, very gratifying.”

These rankings are based on independent research conducted by CareChex — a division of Comparion, which determines these rankings via its National Quality Rating Database. This database includes virtually all general, acute, non-federal U.S. hospitals, and incorporates the most recent three years of federal fiscal year data and runs approximately two years behind the current calendar year.

The CareChex rating service uses both public and proprietary information to compare the quality of hospital and physician care to national, state and local standards. The program analyzes a variety of process, outcome and patient satisfaction measures to assign a composite score and rating. Readers may visit www.carechex.com to learn more about the specifics in how these ratings are determined and to see how West Georgia Health compares with other hospitals throughout the state and the nation.