SALISBURY – Rowan Regional Medical Center is one of only 28 hospitals nationwide to receive the 2012 Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence for meeting or exceeding national performance standards for clinical care and patient experience by VHA Inc., the national health care network. In addition to Rowan Regional Medical Center, four other Novant Health hospitals received this award including Presbyterian Hospital; Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital; Forsyth Medical Center and Medical Park Hospital.
VHA gives its Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence annually to recognize organizations that achieve top performance on clinical core measures established and tracked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Services (HCAHPS) survey, which measures hospital patient satisfaction nationwide.
 “The VHA Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence acknowledges the outstanding achievements these 28 hospitals have made to provide their patients with consistently high levels of clinical care combined with an improved patient experience,” said Steve Miff, PhD, VHA’s senior vice president for performance management. “The leaders and staff at each of these 28 award-winning VHA hospitals have demonstrated the commitment, focus and collaboration required to implement the best possible programs and processes that produce sustainable results and promote and improve exceptional patient communications, experience and superior clinical outcomes.”
In addition to the Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence, Rowan Regional Medical Center was also honored with a VHA Membership Recognition award for improving patient quality of care and safety. In 2011, Rowan Regional Medical Center achieved significant reductions in MRSA infection rates.  
Dari Caldwell, president of Rowan Regional Medical Center said, “We are honored to be recognized and awarded for the work we do each day in our hospital to provide the highest, safest quality of care possible. Each member of our team is dedicated to providing our patients with the best medical care available.” 
VHA serves more than 1,350 not-for-profit hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute health care organizations nationwide. By recognizing these award-winning institutions, VHA hopes that other hospitals and health systems will apply these leading practices to identify ways to improve patient care and drive clinical excellence within their own organizations.
For more information on VHA, go to www.vha.com.