Aitkin Hospital Earns Award for Emergency Care Excellence

Press Ganey has named Riverwood Healthcare Center a 2020 Guardian of Excellence Award® winner. Other than a Woodbury, Minn. surgery center, Riverwood is the only Minnesota hospital to receive this award.

This award recognizes top-performing health care organizations that have achieved the 95th percentile or above for performance on patient experience. For this award, Riverwood’s emergency care patient experience is being recognized.

The Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award is a nationally recognized symbol of achievement in health care. Presented annually, the award honors organizations that have consistently sustained performance in the top 5 percent of all Press Ganey clients for each reporting period during the course of one year.

Riverwood’s hospital holds several trauma-related designations that indicate a high level of emergency care excellence from a highly trained staff, including Level III Trauma Center and Comprehensive Advanced Life Support (CALS) Hospital. Riverwood is also an Acute Stroke Ready Hospital with a telestroke machine in the emergency department that allows immediate remote connection with a stroke neurologist.

According to Riverwood CEO Todd Sandberg, this award represents important recognition from Press Ganey, the industry’s leader in measuring, understanding, and improving the delivery of care.

“I am amazed by the highly skilled professionals who work in our emergency department and how with extraordinary teamwork they treat critically ill patients and save lives in stressful situations,” Sandberg said. “We are honored to receive this award that recognizes the team’s outstanding care for ER patients as well as compassion for their families.”