Northwest Florida Community Hospital in Chipley, Florida Earns ‘Hospital of Choice’ Award

Northwest Florida Community Hospital CEO Patrick Schlenker announced today that NFCH has been awarded the ‘Hospital of Choice’ Award for 2010-2011 by The American Alliance of Healthcare Providers (AAHCP), earning this prestigious award for the second time in 5 years

Northwest Florida Community Hospital, in Chipley, Florida, is one of 100 medical facilities in the nation to earn the ‘Hospital of Choice’ Award, designed by the AAHCP to recognize hospitals that go beyond their walls in pursuit of excellence and quality care– hospitals that have developed a collaborative relationship with physicians and healthcare organizations in the community.

‘We are pleased that the American Alliance has recognized the clinical excellence and community commitment of Northwest Florida Community Hospital’ said Schlenker, ‘and we are proud of the high quality care that is provided by our dedicated doctors, nurses, and staff to Washington County and this part of Northwest Florida.’

America's Choice Hospitals for 2010 were selected based on either a rigorous application process or the Association’s Secret Shopper Program that evaluated customer service interactions by hospital staff.  Interactions included email, voice mail, and or postal mail.  The application process judged applicants on the Association’s 10-point criteria in Professional Ethics, Standards of Conduct, Patient's Rights, Performance Management, Staff Development, and Communication Systems.  

‘The hospitals selected for this honor must display a remarkable affinity toward quality care, customer satisfaction and community service,’ explains AAHCP President R. Vincent Parr. ‘In short, we recognize hospitals that care about all their customers.’

Founded in 1992 as the Eagle Club in Richmond, Virginia, with a group of 32 practitioners and healthcare managers, the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.  The Association was established to find practical, effective, and efficient ways to improve patient care in the American healthcare system by building systems of improvement that will help identify, measure, and monitor key indicators necessary for quality healthcare.