Photo Provided OhioHealth O'Bleness Hospital leaders and associates pose outside the hospital with the 100 Top Hospitals and Everest Awards that recognize the hospital's performance in clinical, operational and financial measures.

ATHENS – OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital has been named among the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals in an independent quality analysis by Premier Inc. and published by Modern Healthcare.

For more than 30 years, the 100 Top Hospitals program has used an objective review of public data to identify top-performing hospitals across the United States.

Hospitals do not apply for the recognition and award recipients do not pay to promote it. The program helps hospital leaders measure performance and find ways to improve care, operations and value for the communities they serve.

“We are honored for the recognition,” LeeAnn Lucas-Helber, O’Bleness Hospital president, said. “It reflects both our commitment to providing excellent care to our community and our pursuit of continuous improvement.”

O’Bleness Hospital also received the Everest Award, the highest honor in the 100 Top Hospitals program, that recognizes hospitals that not only perform at a high level, but also make the fastest and most consistent improvement over five years. It reflects progress across patient care, hospital operations, financial performance and patient experience.

“This honor encourages us to keep building on our progress,” Lucas-Helber said. “We remain focused on caring for our community, improving the patient experience and delivering safe, reliable care for every person who comes through our doors.”

Based on comparisons between this year’s top-performing hospitals and similar hospitals, the study found that top performers achieved better outcomes and worked more efficiently. If all hospitals performed at the same level as this year’s 100 Top Hospitals, Medicare patients could see more than 279,000 additional lives saved, more than 477,000 more patients without complications, more than $14.3 billion in inpatient cost savings, and more than 21,700 fewer readmissions within 30 days.

“Premier’s 100 Top Hospitals program recognizes healthcare organizations that consistently deliver high-quality care while improving operational and financial performance,” David Zito, president of performance services at Premier, said. “By highlighting top performers and providing transparent, data-driven insights, this program helps hospitals nationwide identify opportunities to enhance care delivery, strengthen financial sustainability and improve outcomes for the communities they serve.”

The program focuses on short-term, acute care, non-federal U.S. hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of patients, about 2,540 facilities, and was based on publicly available data sources from 2019 through 2024 including Medicare cost reports, Medicare provider analysis and review data and from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

OhioHealth is based in Columbus and is a not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church. It operates 16 hospitals, five joint-venture hospitals, more than 200 ambulatory sites and other health services in a 50-county area.