Bronson Named Consumers Choice for Quality

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – National Research Corporation (NRC) recently presented Bronson Methodist Hospital with the 2008/2009 Consumer Choice Award for the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek area. This is the sixth year in a row that Bronson has been the hospital chosen as providing the highest quality healthcare.

Frank J. Sardone, Bronson president and CEO, said, “As an organization dedicated to being a national leader in healthcare quality, it is very rewarding to know that area residents as well as our patients, employees and medical staff view Bronson as the best hospital in the area. We will continue to work hard to meet and exceed the high expectations that people in southwest Michigan have of us.”

Ginny Martin, President of NRC’s Healthcare Market Guide Division, said winners are determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected in the company’s Healthcare Market Guide Ticker® study. Nationally, the study surveyed over 200,000 households representing over 400,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. The winning facilities rank highest in their Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Questions asked of consumers include which hospital is your top choice for: 1) best overall quality, 2) best image and reputation, 3) best doctors, and 4) best nurses.

“Consumers continue to be empowered to make decisions for themselves and their families when selecting their healthcare facilities and services,” Martin said. “As care options multiply and consumer perception of quality grows in importance, dedication to providing a high level of quality healthcare becomes essential for hospitals. These Consumer Choice award winners exemplify the dedication it takes to provide quality healthcare to their communities, and we are please to honor them through the eyes of their patients.”

About National Research Corporation

National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCI) is an industry leader, with more than two decades of experience in healthcare performance measurement and improvement. This is the thirteenth year NRC has awarded hospitals in 250 markets nationwide whose consumers have recognized them for providing quality healthcare services.

NRC’s Healthcare Market Guide Ticker is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive study of its kind. No other study used to measure hospital performance and preferences contains more consumer responses than NRC’s study. The study has a margin of error of + or – 0.2 percent at a national level.

For more information about NRC contact:

Tracy Castro at (402) 475-2525

About Bronson Methodist Hospital

Bronson Methodist Hospital, located at 601 John St. in downtown Kalamazoo, Mich., is the flagship of Bronson Healthcare Group, a not-for-profit healthcare system serving all of southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. With 380 licensed beds and all private rooms, Bronson Methodist Hospital provides care in virtually every specialty—cardiology, orthopedics, surgery, emergency medicine, neurology, oncology—with advanced capabilities in critical care as a Level I Trauma Center; in neurological care as a Joint Commission certified Primary Stroke Center; in cardiac care as the region’s first accredited Chest Pain Emergency Center; in obstetrics as the leading BirthPlace and only high-risk pregnancy center in southwest Michigan, and in pediatrics as one of only four children's hospitals in the state. The hospital is the recipient of the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest presidential honor for quality and organizational performance excellence, and was named one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals for 2005 by Solucient.

Bronson Healthcare Group is one of Kalamazoo’s largest employers and has been ranked for six consecutive years by Working Mother magazine as one of the nation’s 100 best companies to work for. Annually, Bronson provides more than $40 million in community benefits through outreach and charitable care for the un- and under-insured. Bronson also serves the largest percentage of Medicaid patients of any Michigan hospital outside of southeast Michigan.

For more information about Bronson contact:

Jason Manshum at (269) 341-8747

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