Effingham Hospital and Care Center was selected to receive the Hospital of Choice Award for the winter quarter from the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers from among 400 customer friendly hospitals throughout the U.S.  

Only a select number of hospitals each year are recognized with this honor for a period of one year and posted on the Web site www.choicehospitals.com. The Hospital of Choice Award is designed to find America’s most customer friendly hospitals based either on an extensive application process, or by a secret review of a facility’s public communication and staff interaction with customers.

The application process requires a review of six principal areas of consideration including standards of conduct, performance management and improvement, staff development and training, systems of communication, good citizenship, and educational and promotional material available to consumers.  

The mission of AAHCP is to assist health care providers in establishing a culture of excellence, not only in technical competence, but also in customer satisfaction.  AAHCP recognized the first hospitals with the Hospital of Choice in 2002.  

Nine other hospitals recognized along with Effingham Hospital are: Concord Hospital-Concord, N.H.; Cooper Green Mercy Hospital-Birmingham, Ala.; Gundersen Lutheran-La Crosse, Wis.; Medical City Dallas Hospital-Dallas; The Nebraska Medical Center-Omaha, Neb.; Northwest Florida Community Hospital-Chipley, Fla.; Southern Ohio Medical Center-Portsmouth, Ohio; St. Mary Medical Center-Langhorne, Penn. and University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.