Quality & Safety

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Quality & Safety Is Our Top Priority

Clinical quality, safety and patient experience are always at the top of our minds. For that reason, Samaritan Health Services is focused on improving processes and measuring the quality and safety of our health care, physicians and facilities to ensure the greatest possible outcomes.

We gather data about patient outcomes and satisfaction and assess our patient safety records. We then compile this information through independent resources and make it available to help you be confident you’re receiving the quality care you need and deserve. The more informed you are, the more you inspire and drive us to always improve.

We are proud of our collaborative environment, which enables hospitals, clinics and physicians to share best practices for effective care. The nature of the Samaritan network allows for patient-centered efforts and practices to continually be reviewed and improved.

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Our Quality Ratings

Hospitals are rated on a wide variety of quality measures by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. The overall rating shows how well each hospital performs on average compared to other hospitals in the United States. Hospital ratings range from 1 to 5 stars, with 5 stars being the highest quality rating.

Samaritan Health Services is committed to providing patients and community members with the highest quality health care possible. To see our hospitals’ current star ratings and compare to other hospitals in the area, please visit Hospital Compare. Please note that data on Hospital Compare is approximately six months behind.

How Does Samaritan Make Quality & Safety a Priority?

All Samaritan hospitals collect and report information on the care we provide, as required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. We support the release of information about health care quality to the public to help educate our communities and raise the bar for medical performance. 

For common conditions that hospitals treat, there are quality measures from the Oregon Hospital Guide. There are evidence-based measures that have been proven to ensure the best outcomes for patients. For example, giving a heart attack patient an aspirin has been shown to improve the chances of a good outcome for that patient. This is recommended for all heart attack patients, which means hospitals are rated on this activity. The goal would be for a hospital to give aspirin to heart attack patients in 100% of cases. It is our goal to reach 100% for every measure.

Samaritan’s commitment to quality care and patient safety includes system-wide projects, as well as hospital-specific initiatives.

Throughout the Samaritan system, we have a variety of programs to increase patient safety that include efforts to:

  • Reduce health care acquired infections.
  • Use surgical safety checklists prior to surgery.
  • Reduce patient falls.
  • Reduce patient readmission.
  • Good Catch Program to increase safety reporting.


Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center

  • Healthgrades 2020 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™.
  • Four-star rating in 2019 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including specific recognition for overall patient satisfaction and staff communication.
  • Designated with a Primary Stroke Center Certification.
  • American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement and Target: Stroke Honor Role Elite Award.

Samaritan Albany General Hospital

  • Healthgrades 2020 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™.
  • Samaritan Albany General Hospital Five-Star Recipient for C-Section Delivery as rated by Healthgrades in 2020.
  • Five-star rating in 2019 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including specific recognition for overall readmission rates, patient experience, safety of care and timeliness of care.
  • American Heart Association’s Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement and Target: Stroke Honor Role Elite Award.
  • Recognized by Competency & Credentialing Institute (CCI) as a Certified Perioperative Nurse (CNOR) Strong site.
  • Samaritan Evergreen Hospice level 4 stare partner in the We Honor Veterans program through the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
  • Samaritan Wound, Vein & Hyperbaric Medicine is nationally accredited by the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society and is one of only seven wound centers in Oregon and Washington to achieve this accreditation.
  • SAGH is home to Sarah’s Place, which is first SANE center in Oregon to provide a setting where sexual assault nurse examiners work with patients in a discreet environment separate from the emergency department.

Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital

  • Four-star rating in 2019 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including specific recognition for exceeding national averages for measures in patient experience and readmission rates.
  • Above state and national averages in caring for sepsis patients and cleanliness of hospital environment.
  • American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines Stroke awards.
  • Recognized as one of the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide to prevent poor outcomes in 14 serious patient event categories by Healthgrades.
  • Critical Care unit received silver level Beacon Award of Excellence from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital

  • Congestive Heart Failure Program to reduce patient readmission.
  • OB Emergency Preparedness Program.
  • Fall Prevention Program.
  • Four-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid for patient satisfaction among Medicare and Medicaid recipients between June 2015 and June 2016.
  • 2016 & 2017 Top Performer for MBQIP Emergency Department Transfer Communications.

Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital

  • Establishment of the Center for Health Education.
  • Five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid for staff responsiveness to patient needs.
  • American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines Stroke awards.
DNV Accredited Hospital logo.

DNV Quality Accreditation

All Samaritan hospitals and many of its clinics are accredited by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-approved accrediting organization. DNV visits Samaritan every year to ensure we are providing high quality care to our patients and meeting high health care standards. The accreditation process promotes high quality performance and continual improvement throughout our organization.

Patient & Family Advisory Councils

Since 2015, Samaritan has engaged patients and family members through our Patient & Family Advisory Councils to improve quality, patient safety, and health outcomes. Our PFACs are a collaboration of solution-minded patient and family advisors with our clinical staff and leadership. We focus on transforming the culture towards patient centered care and deeply value the perspectives and expertise our patients and families provide. This is an incredible opportunity to partner with our local community.

We are actively recruiting new Patient and Family Advisors for our hospital and clinic Patient & Family Advisory Councils. Community members who have been a patient or have had a family member receive care from one of Samaritan’s five hospitals are encouraged to apply.

Learn More
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TeamSTEPPS

Samaritan Health Services uses TeamSTEPPS to optimize team performance within our hospitals. The program emphasizes communication, leadership, situation monitoring and mutual support to create situations where it is as easy as possible to provide high quality care.

Cardiac rehabilitation provider checks blood pressure.

Patient Satisfaction

We are committed to providing quality care for you and your family. We also want to deliver that care with respect and the high level of personal attention you deserve.

Patient Satisfaction
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