Awards and Distinctions
Campus & Hospital Awards and Designations
IBM Watson Health® selected CHI Health as one of 5 Top Large Health Systems in 2020
Read the full press release.
IBM Watson Top Quintile
CHI Health was recognized in the top quintile of health systems for 2018. The best-performing systems were among 338 systems evaluated on nine Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services measures. According to IBM Watson Health, based on the results of this year’s study, if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities:
- Nearly 102,000 additional lives could be saved
- More than 43,000 additional patients could be complication-free
- More than $4.4 billion in inpatient costs could be saved
Approximately 200,000 fewer discharged patients would be readmitted within 30 days.
These hospitals are top performers in managing risk, achieving higher quality, securing better outcomes, increasing patient satisfaction and operating at a lower cost than their peers.
- CHI Health Missouri Valley, Missouri Valley, Iowa
The National Rural Health Association recognizes the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals from a list of the Top 100 that have achieved success based on the Hospital Strength Index. Among the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals for Best Practice in Quality:
- CHI Health Missouri Valley, Missouri Valley, Iowa
- CHI Health Plainview, Plainview, Neb.
Top 20 for Patient Experience:
- CHI Health Mercy Corning, Corning, Iowa
Visit the Awards pages for these campuses to learn more about their awards and distinctions:
Service Line Awards
Behavioral Care Awards & Recognitions
Blue Distinction® Center for Substance Use Treatment and Recovery
CHI Health St. Francis is designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Substance Use Treatment and Recovery by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Cancer Care Awards & Recognitions
COC Outstanding Achievement Award
The Commission on Cancer (CoC)’s Outstanding Achievement Award (OAA) is designed to recognize cancer programs that strive for excellence in demonstrating compliance with the CoC standards and are committed to ensuring high quality cancer care.
NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP)
Only 21 cancer centers in the nation have the National Cancer Institute (NCI) NCCCP designation. St. Francis was an original member when the program launched in 2007, and we continue our participation today.
NCI Community Oncology Research Program
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) is a national NCI-supported network that brings cancer prevention clinical trials and cancer care delivery research (CCDR) to people in their communities.
National Quality Measures for Breast Centers
The CHI Health Breast Health Center has achieved the National Quality Measures for Breast Centers (NQMBC™) Certified Quality Breast Center of Excellence accreditation. This is the highest certification level. This certification recognizes a center’s quality performance as meeting quality standards criteria.
American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Center of Excellence
This designation is awarded to breast imaging centers that achieve excellence by seeking and earning accreditation in all of the ACR’s voluntary breast-imaging accreditation programs and modules, in addition to the mandatory Mammography Accreditation Program.
National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers
The CHI Health Breast Health Center and CHI Health St. Francis are accredited by the American College of Surgeon's National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Accreditation by the NAPBC is granted only to those centers that are voluntarily committed to providing the best possible care to patients with diseases of the breast.
QOPI® Certification
CHI Health Regional Cancer Center is a QOPI® Certified Practice. Certification by the QOPI Certification Program is an acknowledgement that this practice meets certain defined quality and safety standards in the administration of cancer care. In order to achieve QOPI® Certification, this oncology practice has participated in QOPI® and met or exceeded a benchmark score on measures that compared the quality of their care against national standards.
Heart Care Awards & Recognitions
Ceenter of Excellence
CHI Health Nebraska Heart was a 2022 designee as a CommonSpirit Health Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) and Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (MitraClip™) (TEER) Center of Excellence
Target: BP
CHI Health has been recognized by Target: BP for our work to improve blood pressure control rates and reduce the number of Americans who have heart attacks or strokes.
Gold+ level – recognizes practices that have demonstrated a commitment to measurement accuracy and have 70 percent or more of their adult patient population with high BP controlled.
Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence
Creighton University Medical Center - Bergan Mercy, Immanuel, Lakeside, Mercy Council Bluffs and Midlands hospital Cardiac Catheterizations Labs all are ACE-accredited. This important accomplishment demonstrates these facilities are dedicated to maintaining best practices and the highest safety standards for interventional cardiology procedures.
CommonSpirit Health designated Creighton University Medical Center - Bergan Mercy as a LAAO Center of Excellence. The imperative for becoming a CommonSpirit LAAO Center of Excellence is to ensure the delivery of optimal care for one of the newer technologies available to patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. The designation process used pre-determined criteria and a point system to identify top performing programs. The criteria and scoring system were developed by a subcommittee of the Electrophysiology Clinical Standards Committee using national standards and benchmarks primarily from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry’s LAAO Registry.
2010 Triple Gold Recognition to CHI Health Midlands Hospital for coronary artery disease (CAD), heart failure (HF) and stroke (S).
CHI Health was the only health care system in Nebraska to be named one of the top health systems in the United States for 2015.
CHI Health St. Elizabeth received the Get With The Guidelines® - Resuscitation Silver Plus Award in 2020 for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the treatment of patients who suffer cardiac arrests in the hospital.
From 2006-2009, CHI Health earned top performer in the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (HQID) which rewards hospitals for delivering high quality care in five clinical areas: Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) or heart attack; Heart Failure; Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG); Pneumonia; Hip and Knee Replacement.
The Coronary Bypass team of the Heart & Vascular Institute received the highest quality rating (3-stars) from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in 2010 and the first half of 2011.
Intensive Care Unit Awards & Recognitions
Beacon Award for Excellence
The intensive care unit at CHI Health Good Samaritan was awarded a silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). This significant milestone nationally recognizes caregivers who are continuously learning and putting effective systems in place to successfully achieve optimal patient care.
Maternity Care Awards & Recognitions
Blue Distinction® Center for Maternity Care
CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center – Bergan Mercy, Immanuel, Lakeside, St. Elizabeth and St. Francis are designated as Blue Distinction Centers for maternity care by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Neurology Awards & Recognitions
Joint Commission Certified Primary Stroke Centers
CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center - Bergan Mercy, CHI Health Immanuel, CHI Health Lakeside, CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs, CHI Health St. Elizabeth, CHI Health St. Francis, and CHI Health Good Samaritan are all certified primary stroke centers by the Joint Commission.
Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center
CHI Health Immanuel’s Neurological Institute is only the fourth program in the country to receive a new advanced stroke certification for a Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center. In order to get the special certification, the Immanuel Neurological Institute had to meet rigorous standards set by the Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs earned the Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus Award in 2020 by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.
Magnet Recognized
Hospitals that are magnet recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) have achieved the highest level of nursing excellence. A CHI Health hospital with magnet designation is CHI Health St. Elizabeth.
The ANCC also recognized hospitals that are on the Pathway to Excellence. Hospitals in our system on the Pathway are CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center - Bergan Mercy & Lasting Hope Recovery Center, CHI Health Immanuel, and CHI Health Mercy Corning.
Pathway to Excellence® Designation
CHI Health Immanuel has achieved Pathway to Excellence® designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The Pathway to Excellence designation identifies the elements of work environments in which nurses can flourish. The designation substantiates the professional satisfaction of nurses at Immanuel and identifies it as one of the best places to work.
The ANCC Pathway to Excellence Program® and ANCC Pathway to Excellence in Long Term Care® name and logos are registered trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Pathway to Excellence®, Journey to Nursing Excellence™, and ANCC Pathway to Excellence Conference® are trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center. All rights reserved.
Orthopedics Awards & Recognitions
Blue Distinction® Center for Knee and Hip Replacement
CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center – Bergan Mercy, CHI Health Good Samaritan, CHI Health Immanuel, CHI Health Lakeside, and CHI Health St. Francis are designated as Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs has the Blue Distinction Plus designation for Knee and Hip Replacement.
Blue Distinction® Center for Spine Surgery
CHI Health St. Elizabeth and CHI Health St. Francis are designated as Blue Distinction Centers for Spine Surgery by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, an independent licensee of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. CHI Health Good Samaritan has the Blue Distinction Plus designation for Spine Surgery.
Radiology Awards & Recognitions
American College of Radiology Accreditation
CHI Health imaging locations are accredited by the American College of Radiology for Excellent Imaging. Our personnel are well qualified, through education and certification, to perform and interpret your medical images.
Rehabilitation Care Awards & Recognitions
Immanuel Rehabilitation Institute is CARF-accredited
Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) accreditation demonstrates a program’s quality, transparency, and commitment to the satisfaction of the persons served.
Weight Management Awards & Recognitions
CHI Health Immanuel has been named a Fully Accredited MBSAQIP (Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accredited Quality Improvement Program) by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The MBSAQIP Accreditation recognizes surgical programs with a demonstrated track record of favorable outcomes and a complication rate of less than one percent in bariatric surgery.
The ASMBS and ACS MBSAQIP was created to recognize bariatric surgery centers that meet the highest standards in the industry and to help surgeons and hospitals continue to improve the quality and safety of care provided. As a fully-accredited program, CHI Health Immanuel agrees to continue to share information on clinical pathways, protocols and outcomes data.
Additional Designations
Women's Health Awards & Recognitions
CHI Breast Center of Excellence
In order to obtain this designation, a breast center must hold accreditation with the American College of Surgeon’s National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), be recognized as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence (BICOE) by the American College of Radiology, and be certified as a Quality Breast Center of Excellence through the National Quality Measures for Breast Centers (NQMBC). Less than 1% of breast centers across the country have achieved this significant accomplishment.