A Newark hospital has been named America's 100 Best in three specialties by Healthgrades, an online resource for information about physicians and hospitals.

Saint Michael's Medical Center received the recognition for gastrointestinal care, general surgery and for the third in a row, cardiac care. Saint Michael’s was also designated among the top 5% in the nation for overall cardiac services.

Saint Michael's is the only hospital in Newark to receive any America's 100 Best recognitions from Healthgrades. In Essex County, Saint Barnabas was named America's 100 Best for cardiac care and America's 50 Best for cardiac surgery. No hospitals in Hudson County received the designation.

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“We are proud to be recognized by Healthgrades as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades for these three specialties,” said Claudia Komer, a chief medical officer at Saint Michael’s. “The credit goes to our excellent staff who are focused on providing the highest quality healthcare available not only in Newark, not only in Essex County, but in the state.”

Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions using Medicare data, and outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 15 states. The latest results are for 2020.

Since Saint Michael’s was acquired by California-based Prime Healthcare in 2016, the hospital has earned an increasing number of national awards each year. For the last two periods, the hospital received an A for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group and earlier this year, Saint Michael’s received a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

“As a member of Prime Healthcare for the last three years, Saint Michael’s Medical Center has benefited tremendously from its ability to share best practices with sister hospitals across the United States,” said Saint Michael’s CEO Robert Iannaccone. “While we have always been a recognized for our cardiac care, it’s particularly gratifying to see that our other service lines are now being recognized as among the top 100 in the United States.”

In addition, Saint Michael’s is a five-star recipient for coronary bypass surgery for four years in a row, treatment of heart attack for two years in a row, treatment of heart failure for three years in a row and pacemaker procedures for two years in a row.





Saint Michael's has long been on the forefront of cardiac care. In 1959, surgeons at Saint Michael’s performed the first open heart surgery in NJ, on a 10-year-old girl. Two years later, the hospital opened a 32-bed cardiac unit, the first in the country to provide such specialized care.

Saint Michael’s said it recently upgraded its catheterization labs with state-of-the art equipment that will allow doctors to provide cutting edge cardiac care for patients. The new equipment will allow the hospital to begin offering transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a minimally invasive procedure that allows doctors to repair a poorly functioning heart valve, known as aortic stenosis.

Saint Michael’s also received several five-star ratings in other specialties. In orthopedics, it was awarded five stars for the treatment of hip fractures. Saint Michael’s also received Healthgrades Pulmonary Care Excellence Award and received a five-star rating for the treatment of pneumonia for the last three years.

