ST. HELENA, Calif. – St. Helena Hospital Napa Valley has been recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review with the fifth lowest rate of serious blood clots after surgery of over 4,000 Medicare-certified hospitals in the United States.

The serious blood clot rate is based on an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality patient safety indicator – postoperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis rate.

The rate is the number of postoperative serious blood clots per 1,000 surgical discharges from July 2009 through June 2011.

Prevention of the postoperative conditions deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), both of which can lead to serious blood clots and stroke, begins at the physician level and is carried out through the nursing staff by following a set of core measures.  

Prior to surgery, the hospital’s physicians educate each patient on medications and exercises necessary during post-surgery recovery to avoid any complications.

The hospital’s nurses get patients up and moving around post-surgery and making sure compression devices are used to prevent blood clotting.

The surgical team at St. Helena Hospital Napa Valley implements many precautions to help eliminate or reduce the incidence of DVTs and PEs, including the appropriate use of pharmacological and/or mechanical interventions.

“This is a reflection of our commitment to destination-quality health care and our physicians and surgical team’s dedication to excellence,” said Nia Lendaris, vice president, Patient Care Services. “Preventive measures are started very early on, and because our physicians take pride and ownership of this process, we’ve been able maintain a very low postoperative blood clot rate.”

St. Helena Hospital Napa Valley is part of Adventist Health, a faith-based, not-for-profit integrated health care delivery system serving communities in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. For more information visit www.StHelenaHospitals.org .