Heart Center at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo has been awarded a distinguished three-star national quality rating by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. (Courtesy of Mercy Hospital)

The Heart Center at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo has been awarded a distinguished three-star national quality rating by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons for its patient care and outcomes in coronary artery bypass grafting procedures (heart bypass surgery) for reporting periods January 2017 to July 2018. Only 6.24 percent of the 1,012 participating providers across the country received a "three-star" rating - the highest award under the STS quality rating system - which places Mercy Hospital among the top hospitals for heart bypass surgery in the United States and Canada.

"It is important to voluntarily share quality data to tell the public how we are doing and to compare ourselves to other similar heart surgery programs on a national scale," said Dr. Stephen Downing, chair of Mercy's Cardiothoracic Surgery Department. "Our three-star rating reflects our dedication to exceeding national standards of excellence as well as our commitment to best serve our patients."

The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs across the United States and Canada. The star rating is calculated using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures performed by an STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participant.

"The STS rating is national validation that our health care team and heart surgery program rank among the very best in the country," said C.J. Urlaub, Mercy Hospital president and CEO. "For patients who need surgery to restore blood flow to the heart caused by a blocked artery, it means that our bypass surgery program meets the highest standards for quality, safety and achieving the best outcomes."