ST. LOUIS - (October 21, 2009) – SSM DePaul Health Center, SSM St. Joseph Health Center, and SSM St. Mary’s Health Center have been named top performing hospitals in the Premier Inc. healthcare alliance QUEST: High-Performing Hospitals initiative.

The three St. Louis hospitals received top performance awards for improving patient quality and safety (in the areas of heart attack, congestive heart failure, pneumonia and reducing surgical complications), reducing mortality rates and reducing costs for patients.

QUEST is a voluntary, three-year project made up of 157 participants across 31 states, including urban/rural, large/small and teaching/non-teaching facilities. In the first year of the project, participating hospitals have saved an estimated total of 8,043 lives and $577 million. Thirty-two hospitals were recognized as top performing hospitals.

“SSM Health Care-St. Louis is working very hard to provide safe, high quality and cost effective patient care,” said Dr. Kevin Johnson, network vice president and chief medical officer for SSM Health care-St. Louis. “Teamwork, collaboration and implementing best practices are essential to achieving these goals.” Dr. Johnson was a featured speaker at today’s Premier Inc. news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

QUEST is designed to help hospitals achieve new levels of performance. Participating hospitals were challenged to overcome the main factors that lead to deaths, errors and excessive costs, and measure themselves against one another to achieve top performance.

Dr. Johnson said participating in QUEST shows that SSM Health Care is committed to delivering the highest quality, most cost-effective and most satisfying hospital experience for every patient.

For more information about the QUEST: High-Performing Hospitals initiative, visit: http://www.premierinc.com/quality-safety/tools-services/quest/index.jsp

About SSM Health Care-St. Louis
SSM Health Care-St. Louis serves the comprehensive health needs of St. Louis-area residents through a network that includes seven hospitals, nearly 12,000 employees and 2,500 staff physicians. Key service lines include heart, cancer, neurosciences, pediatrics, weight loss, sleep, imaging, behavioral health and rehab. SSM Health Care-St. Louis includes Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center, DePaul Health Center, St. Clare Health Center, St. Joseph Health Center, St. Joseph Health Center- Wentzville, St. Joseph Hospital West and St. Mary’s Health Center. For more information, visit www.ssmhealth.com.

About Premier Inc.
The Premier healthcare alliance is more than 2,200 U.S. hospitals and 63,000-plus other healthcare sites working together to improve healthcare quality and affordability. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier maintains the nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier works with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West to improve hospital performance.

For more information, contact:
Chris Sutton - SSM Health Care   
Phone: (314) 994-7886; Mobile: (314) 323-5563
Alven Weil - Premier healthcare alliance
Phone: (704) 733-5797; Mobile: (704) 995-5607