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SALT LAKE CITY -- Cache Valley Specialty Hospital in Logan gets the top ranking among Utah hospitals included in new Consumer Reports rankings of hospitals nationwide. But Nancy Metcalf with Consumer Reports says the majority of Utah's hospitals rank around the middle of the pack.
Cache Valley has an overall score of 79, which is above the national average. On the other end of the ranked Utah hospitals is Jordan Valley Medical Center with a ranking of 50, which is just below the national average.
Metcalf says overall, patients liked how nurses and doctors communicated with them but had problems with how new medicines were explained.
"They're coming at you constantly with IVs and pills and stuff. Nobody tells you what they are or what they are for or what side effects you may experience. They just say 'take this' or 'put out your arm,'" she said.
Another key issue that patients ranked low was the time just before they were discharged from the hospital. Metcalf says that can be among the most hazardous parts of a hospital stay.
"Because if you are discharged without the proper preparation, without plans for follow up care, without knowing what you are supposed to do when you get home, without the right kinds of meds, you can really get messed up really fast and end up right back in the hospital in a week or so," she explained.
Metcalf says the rankings were compiled from the results of a national survey that is conducted four times a year by the people who run Medicare.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
