VA hospital in ABQ (Albuquerque, NM) ranked in bottom 10

The Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, responsible for the health care of about 58,000 veterans, was among the 10 lowest-ranking VA hospitals in the country, according to a closely held quarterly report made public last week.

Last week, USA Today published ratings the Veterans Affairs Department uses to rank all 146 of its medical centers quarterly. Known as Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning, or SAIL reports, they are based on numerous factors, including wait times for appointments, death and infection rates, patient and employee satisfaction, access to care and occurrences of avoidable complications.

But Andrew Welch, director of the New Mexico VA Health Care System, said the ranking for the Raymond G. Murphy Medical Center, which covered the quarter that ended June 30, does not tell a complete story about the quality of care provided to area veterans, nor are such reports designed to compare VA hospitals with other hospitals.

“The bottom line is that veterans receiving care within the New Mexico VA Health Care System should feel very comfortable and confident about their VA health care,” Welch said this week. “We have the outcomes to show that we’re providing high-quality care.”

Read more at:
https://www.abqjournal.com/909249/call-wait-times-and-infection-rates-among-problem-areas.html