Baptist Downtown Named 2006/07 Consumer Choice Award Winner

Jacksonville, Florida, October 19, 2006 -- Baptist Medical Center Downtown is pleased to announce it has been selected by the National Research Corporation (NRC) as a 2006/07 Consumer Choice Award winner for the Jacksonville community. The award identifies hospitals which health care consumers have chosen as having the highest quality and image in 186 markets throughout the U.S. Winners are determined from the results of a nationally syndicated NRC Healthcare Market Guide study of more than 200,000 households representing 400,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia.

In addition, Baptist Health has been named "Most Preferred Healthcare Provider" by local consumers in the NRC Healthcare Market Guide study since 1990.

"Baptist Health is proud of the confidence our community has in us," said Hugh Greene, president and CEO. "We are committed to providing a full range of health care services that the residents of Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia, from newborns to senior adults, need and want. This recent award demonstrates that we are meeting their needs."

In 2006, respondents chose Baptist Health hospitals as the health care providers of choice in 10 quality categories, including "Best Doctors," "Best Nurses," "Best Image/Reputation," "Best Overall Quality," "Most Preferred for All Health Needs," "Most Personalized Care," "Best Community Health Programs," "Latest Technology/Equipment," "Web Site Used Most Often," "Best Accommodations," and "Highest Patient Safety."

Additionally, Baptist Health was rated the highest in 16 product line categories, including: inpatient, ER, outpatient surgery, outpatient testing/treatment, heart, maternity/OB, women's/GYN, orthopedics, pediatric, mental health, neurology, home health care, physical therapy, senior services, imaging services and plastic surgery.

NRC Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Hays said winners are determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected in the company's annual NRC Healthcare Market Guide® study. Of the 3,200 hospitals named by consumers in the study, the winning facilities rank highest in their Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. "Consumers play an increasing role in selecting their health care facilities and services," Hays says. "As more health care quality information is made publicly available, we expect this trend to increase. These organizations are selected for the Consumer Choice Awards by the community residents they serve. We are pleased to honor these facilities for their dedication to quality health care in the eyes of their patients."

The 2006/07 Healthcare Market Guide is the nation's largest and most comprehensive study of its kind. No other study used to measure hospital performance and preferences contains more consumer responses than NRC's study. The study has a margin of error of + or - 0.2 percent at a national level. Co-winners are named when scores fall within the statistical margin of error for a given market.

Baptist Health has received numerous other consumer choice awards in the past. Baptist Health has been voted "Top Medical Center" in Jacksonville Magazine's annual Readers' Poll since the poll's inception in 1997. Folio Weekly readers have selected Baptist Medical Center Downtown as the "Best Hospital in Northeast Florida" for the magazine's "Best of Jax" issue every year since the reader poll began in 1991.

In 2005, Florida Medical Business readers chose Baptist Medical Center South for the "Golden Stethoscope Award" for "Best Use of Technology" in the "Hospital or Health System" category. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) named Baptist Medical Center a 2003 winner of the seventh annual Ernest A. Codman Award, which recognizes excellence in the use of outcomes measurement by health care organizations to achieve improvements in the quality and safety of health care.