Scripps La Jolla Wins 2003 Consumer Choice Award

Hospital earns recognition second time in three years

For the second time in three years, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla has earned the 2003 Consumer Choice Award by the National Research Corporation (NRC) for the San Diego region. The Consumer Choice Award is given to the hospitals whose consumers have selected as having the highest quality and image in more than 100 markets throughout the U.S. This is the eighth year NRC has awarded hospitals whose consumers have recognized them for providing quality health care services. Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla also earned the honor in 2001.


The winners are determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected in the company’s annual NRC Healthcare Market Guide Study® (HCMG). Of the 3,000 hospitals named by consumers in the study, the winning facilities rank highest in their Metropolitan Statistical Areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. The 2003 HCMG study surveyed more than 140,000 households representing 400,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia.*


“We are honored that San Diegans have again chosen Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla as the local hospital with the highest quality and image in the region in the NRC survey,” said Gary Fybel, administrator of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. “Our mission and our values emphasize providing quality, safe, cost-effective and socially responsible health services. I know that our employees, physicians and volunteers strive to fulfill that mission every day and it is extremely rewarding to know that our patients and their families recognize our commitment to quality health care.”


The 2003 Healthcare Market Guide is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive study of its kind. No other study used to rate hospitals contains more consumer responses than NRC’s study. The study has a margin of error of + or – 0.3 percent at a national level. Co-winners are named when scores fall within the statistical margin of error for a given market. National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCI) is a recognized industry leader, with more than two decades of experience in healthcare specific performance measurement.


Earlier this year, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for cardiac care. In addition to performing a wide-range of cardiothoracic surgical procedures, the hospital boasts a cardiac treatment center, a full range of electrophysiology services, and is home to the one of the busiest catheterization labs in Southern California. Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla was also one of the first sites in the nation to utilize the new drug-eluting stent and has performed more than 450 procedures since the life-saving device received approval from the FDA in April.

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