VCU Health System Awarded Consumer Choice Award for Seventh Time

By Eric Peters

The Virginia Commonwealth University Health System has received a Consumer Choice Award for providing quality healthcare services based on an independent survey of central Virginia residents. This is the seventh time the health system has received the award.

The National Research Corporation presented the award following a nationwide survey of hospital consumers’ perceptions of the local healthcare facilities they use. Participants rated the facilities on a variety of factors including overall quality of patient care, quality of doctors and nurses and overall image and reputation.

"We are pleased that our patients and their families have again recognized our dedication to the highest quality patient care," said Sheldon Retchin, M.D., VCU Health System CEO and vice president for VCU Health Sciences. “This award acknowledges the devoted efforts of our physicians, nurses and staff to provide extraordinary care.”

The 292 winners from the top 300 markets across the country were chosen after a survey of more than 250,000 households representing more than  450,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. From the households surveyed, 3,200 hospitals named by consumers were analyzed and ranked based on their Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, with the winning facilities being ranked the highest.

The study has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.2 percent at a national level.

The VCU Health System is included in U.S. News & World Reports’ top hospital listings and is among an elite group of about 200 healthcare organizations worldwide that have been awarded Magnet status for nursing excellence in national and international health care. The VCU Health System has seven times been named one of the Working Mother 100 Best Companies and four times a Greater Richmond Employer of Choice.  It also received the national Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.