.

Gynecological Surgery at Ocala Health is among the top 10% in the nation--as measured by volume-weighted performance--according to this year's evaluation from Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 34 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions.*

This achievement is part of findings released by Healthgrades and is featured in their 2018 Report to the Nation. The new report demonstrates how clinical performance continues to differ dramatically between hospitals regionally and nationally. Ocala Health's women's services include a number of diagnostic, medical, surgical and educational offerings for breast and gynecological health.

"Quality patient care is our top priority," says Chad Christianson, CEO of Ocala Health. "This recognition from an objective source validates the outstanding quality of care our physicians and staff deliver to our patients."

Ocala Health's other notable Healthgrades recognitions include: One of America's 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery(tm) for 5 Years in a Row (2014-2018), and One of America's 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery(tm) for 6 Years in a Row (2013-2018).

"Consumers value information about hospital quality and use it to evaluate their choices for care," said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. "Hospitals that have achieved a specialty excellence distinction from Healthgrades prove a commitment to high-quality of patient care."

*For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures, and evaluate comparative outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 17 states. Healthgrades recognizes a hospital's quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-star (statistically significantly better than expected), 3-star (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected) categories. The complete Healthgrades 2018 Report to the Nation and detailed study methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.