Salem, Mass. – For the third year in a row, North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) has received two major awards along with five-star rankings for its high standard of care in several areas of service. Among the biggest honors, the Pulmonary Care Excellence Award and the Stroke Care Excellence Award.

These distinctions were bestowed by HealthGrades Inc., an independent health care information company that assesses health care nationwide and provides objective report card ratings to consumers.

NSMC is among the top 10 percent of the nation’s hospitals in two specialty areas.

HealthGrades Pulmonary Care Excellence Award

Hospitals that receive this honor were in the top tier in the HealthGrades pulmonary services ratings. Pulmonology physicians at NSMC care for patients with diseases of the respiratory system including:

• sleep apnea
• sleep disorders
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• emphysema
• asthma
• cystic fibrosis
• pulmonary hypertension

HealthGrades Stroke Care Excellence Award

Hospitals that receive this honor were in the top tier in the HealthGrades stroke services ratings. NSMC is designated as a Primary Stroke Service Hospital by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. This means that both NSMC Salem and Union hospitals follow national standards to ensure that diagnostic and therapeutic services are provided by a team available 24 hours a day for patients with symptoms of acute stroke.

The high marks don’t stop there. HealthGrades also gave North Shore Medical Center five-star ratings in six specialty areas:

? Community Acquired Pneumonia
? Heart Attack
? Prostatectomy
? Stroke
? Valve Replacement Surgery

“For the third year now, NSMC has proven its commitment to quality and patient satisfaction,” said Robert Norton, President and CEO of NSMC. “We work hard to provide exceptional care to our patients, and this recognition is a wonderful validation that we are hitting the mark.”

HealthGrades is a health care information company based in Lakewood, Colorado, that objectively analyzes the performance of more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals. Additional information is available at www.healthgrades.com.