LANCASTER HOSPITAL SCORES HIGH 200 INSTITUTIONS RATED IN STATE.

Byline: Marci Wormser Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Lancaster Community Hospital scored an A and Antelope Valley Hospital a B in overall quality in a recent report by a health insurance company that rated 200 California hospitals.

Lancaster Community also scored an A, but Antelope Valley got a C in a category called ``appropriate care,'' which measures complications such as infections, pneumonia and stroke that are not directly related to the reason a patient is in the hospital, the PacifiCare of California report said.

``We are proud of the results and extremely proud of our staff and the facility,'' said David Sell, director of business development at Lancaster Community Hospital.

An Antelope Valley Hospital spokesman downplayed the significance of the report, saying that other organizations have rated the hospital highly.

The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in 2001 rated Antelope Valley Hospital in the top 5 percent of 94 hospitals it surveyed, Antelope Valley Hospital spokesman Ed Callahan said.

The California Healthcare Association said the PacifiCare survey ``is no better than any publicly available quality data'' and that the survey was completed by an organization that had a financial stake in the outcome.

``What we would do is focus on companies or organizations that have no stake, who are unbiased, which would be the Joint Commission,'' Callahan said.

PacifiCare's quality index profile report measures the clinical and service performance of hospitals on more than 55 measures, including cardiac care, obstetrics, orthopedics, general surgery, gynecology, cancer treatment, medical conditions and pediatric care, as well as satisfaction and utilization, the company said.

Most of the information was derived from California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, Medicare, public data and patient surveys, PacifiCare spokeswoman Cheryl Randolph said.

``This is the first time we are doing this report,'' Randolph said. ``We want to provide both providers and consumers with information so they can make more informed decisions.''

In the report, Antelope Valley Hospital scored in the top 20 percent in six out of 24 categories for types of procedures, treatment and ailments, meaning it had lower patient mortality. Lancaster Hospital performed in the top 20 percent in three categories.

Coronary angioplasty, congestive heart failure, coronary bypass, post heart surgery, orthopedic and ICU survival rates at Antelope Valley Hospital were in the top 20 percent of the hospitals surveyed, the report said.

Survival rates for coronary bypass, intensive care unit and coronary angioplasty patients at Lancaster Hospital were in top 20 percent, the report said.

However, Antelope Valley Hospital performed in the bottom 20 percent in all 19 appropriate-care categories measuring the rate of complications, according to the report.

Lancaster Community performed in the top 20 percent in 10 of the 19 appropriate-care categories.