Sierra Providence Health Network (SPHN) is pleased to announce that the National Research Corporation (NRC) is recognizing for the third straight year with the Consumer Choice Award. These awards are based on consumer preference responses for hospitals chosen by people in our community. The award identifies hospitals that consumers have chosen as having the highest quality and image in 190 markets throughout the U.S. The 2006/07 Healthcare Market Guide is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive consumer assessment study of its kind.

“As a network we realize consumers have choices when it comes to healthcare in El Paso. The Consumer Choice Award indicates that our network has achieved a level of service that is valued and once again recognized by those we serve,” said John Harris, President and CEO, of Sierra Providence Health Network.

In it’s annually conducted NRC Healthcare Market Guide Study – NRC asked more than 200,000 consumers nationally which hospitals have the best overall quality and image. No other study used to measure hospital performance and preferences contains more consumer responses than NRC’s study. SPHN was named as a winner from a composite score for multiple consumer image and preference ratings. The award is derived from four questions in the Healthcare Market Guide: Best Overall Quality, Best Doctors, Best Nurses, and Best Image and Reputation. The announcement appeared in Modern Healthcare in September.

ABOUT SIERRA PROVIDENCE HEALTH NETWORK
Sierra Providence Health Network, part of Tenet Texas, consists of three hospitals located in El Paso: 351-bed Sierra Medical Center, located at 1625 Medical Center Drive; 508-bed Providence Memorial Hospital, which also houses the 106-bed Children’s Hospital at Providence, located at 2001 N. Oregon; and a 78-bed physical rehabilitation hospital, Sierra Providence Physical Rehabilitation Hospital, located at 1740 Curie. The network is in the process of building a fourth hospital, Sierra Providence Eastside Hospital, a 100-bed acute care facility scheduled to open in 2008.

Sierra Medical Center, Providence Memorial Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at Providence are acute care hospitals that offer a broad spectrum of medical and surgical services for adults and children, including cardiac care and rehabilitation, cancer care and support services, women’s services and emergency care. Other network clinical specialties include a dedicated children’s emergency room, kidney transplant, gamma knife radiosurgery, a hospice, a bariatrics center and health care services for chronically ill children. Sierra Providence Physical Rehabilitation Hospital provides a broad spectrum of rehabilitation services and is equipped to handle brain injuries and other serious disorders and is accredited by both the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Sierra Medical Center and Providence Memorial Hospital are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.