New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation - Awards and Grants

Awards and Grants

HHC has won a number of awards and grants in recent years for its quality of care and innovative community-based programs. In 2006, a study by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ranked quality of care at HHC among the highest in New York City in the areas of heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. HHC reported that of the 50 hospitals in New York City that voluntarily submitted quality data to CMS, HHC hospitals held seven of the top nine places – and all ranked in the top 17—when judged by 10 specific measures of healthcare quality for the treatment of patients with life threatening heart and pulmonary conditions, and that Brooklyn’s Coney Island Hospital achieved a first place ranking among all New York City hospitals, public or private.

On September 30, 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded HHC a $10 million grant to be administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The grant, which will provide up to $30 million over three years, is to provide health services to non-responder populations in New York City affected by the World Trade Center attack. Under the grant, HHC will provide medical examinations, diagnostic testing, referral and treatment for residents, students, and others in the community that were directly affected by the dust and debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings on Sept. 11, 2001. Other recent grants to HHC include to expand access to neonatal care and to improve health literacy among low literacy patients.

HHC has won several other prestigious awards in recent years.

• The American Hospital Association awarded HHC’s system-wide palliative care program a Circle of Life Citation of Honor, the first time that such an honor was bestowed on a public hospital system. HHC’s program was judged to be among the top eight of more than 100 national competitors.
• The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems recognized Kings County with a Safety Net Award in the Health Information Technology category for its use of healthcare IT to reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections in its surgical intensive care unit.
• The National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission recognized HHC with the 2008 John M. Eisenberg Award for HHC In Focus, a HHC web site where the public can review how HHC facilities compare to state and national benchmarks on quality indicators. The award recognizes HHC's work to make quality and safety data transparent.
• The 2008 HANYS (Hospital Association of New York State) Pinnacle Award for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety was awarded to HHC's North Bronx Health Network. The Network, which includes Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx Hospital, was also recognized for its Violence Reduction Protocol in psychiatric services. HANYS awarded Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center the Honorable Mention for a 2008 Community Health Improvement Award for their Artist Access Program.
• Harlem Hospital Center was the first hospital in New York City to receive the "Baby Friendly" certification granted by Baby-Friendly USA, part of a global initiative sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The Initiative selects hospitals and birthing centers that implement the recommended 10 steps of a comprehensive breastfeeding program.
• Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center & Home earned the 2007 Ernest Amory Codman Award from The Joint Commission for the use of outcomes measurements as a means to achieve improvement in the quality and safety of health care.
• Elmhurst Hospital Center was assigned a "Magnet" designation by the American Nurses Association to recognize quality patient care and nursing as well as innovations in professional nursing practice.
• HHC earned the 2007 Life and Breath Award by the American Lung Association for contributions to the prevention of lung disease in New York City.
• New York magazine, in its lists of the Best Doctors in the City each year, identifies several HHC physicians throughout the public hospital system as notable in their field.
• Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn and Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx earned, respectively, the Gold and Silver Performance Awards, designated jointly by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, for applying evidence-based best practices in the treatment for Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Failure.