Five LI hospitals named top performers

Five Long Island hospitals have been named top performers by the national accrediting organization for hospitals.

The Joint Commission, a nonprofit that accredits more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs, looked at 46 measures linked to good patient outcomes at 3,300 hospitals.

In its annual report published Nov. 13, it named close to 37 percent, or 1,224 hospitals nationwide, as top performers on a range of conditions, including care for heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, stroke, surgery and children's asthma. Of the 160 New York State hospitals that submitted data, 45 -- or 28 percent -- were deemed top performers.

On Long Island, three Catholic Health Services hospitals made the list: For the fourth straight year, St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson was named a top performer, this year for pneumonia, surgical and stroke care. For a second year, Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre excelled in heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip was recognized for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.

"The Joint Commission's ranking recognizes our hospitals' extraordinary level of commitment to sustaining this level of care across a wide spectrum of performance measures," said Dr. Patrick O'Shaughnessy, chief medical officer for CHS, in a statement.

South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside was also recognized for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.

Richard Murphy, president of South Nassau, said the ranking demonstrates "that we are unrelenting in our commitment and mission to provide high-quality, standard-setting health care services."

Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in West Brentwood also was named for its inpatient psychiatric care.