Cincinnati has a five-star restaurant, but Northern Kentucky has a five-star cardiac facility.

        HealthGrades, a provider of health-care quality information, has announced in its fifth-annual hospital report card that St. Elizabeth has received a five-star rating for excellence in cardiac care for the fourth year in a row.

        St. Elizabeth Medical Center is No. 1 in cardiac care in the Tristate, according to HealthGrades.

        The center, including St. Elizabeth North in Covington, St. Elizabeth South in Edgewood and St. Elizabeth-Grant County in Williamstown, is rated No. 1 in cardiac care in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, with a ranking among the top 5 percent in the nation.

        “Our exceptional ratings from HealthGrades are reflective of the consistently high standard of care that we provide at St. Elizabeth,” said Joseph Gross, president and chief executive officer of the hospital. “Our physicians and staff are honored to receive this recognition.”

        HealthGrades analyzes more than 5,000 hospitals nationwide, grading their quality.

        St. Elizabeth was the only one of more than a half-dozen Greater Cincinnati hospitals to receive five stars, the highest-possible rating, in all five cardiac categories on which hospitals were graded.

        It was the only hospital in the area to receive five stars for the category of coronary bypass surgery.

        Other area hospitals, such as Christ, Deaconess and Bethesda North, scored five stars in some cardiac-care categories, posting high scores in handling heart attacks. Christ Hospital had five-star ratings in some cardiac procedures such as angioplasty.

        It also has the largest number of Medicare cases of any hospital in the category.

        University Hospital and Jewish Hospital posted lower scores, with University scoring three stars, or “as expected,” in some cardiac categories, and Jewish scoring one star, or “poor,” in several areas.

        St. Elizabeth South operates one of the largest cardiac surgery programs in Greater Cincinnati. A comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic cardiology department and cardiac health center is provided for heart patients.

        In addition to the HealthGrades ranking, St. Elizabeth has been ranked in the top 100 cardiovascular hospitals in the nation for the last two years by Solucient, a company that maintains health-care provider databases.

        “We provide our hospital report with the mission of helping consumers make better-informed health-care choices,” said Sarah Loughran, senior vice president of HealthGrades.

        “It is important for members of the community to be aware of this information. On average, mortality rates for one-star hospitals are double that of five-star hospitals.”

        For more information about St. Elizabeth and other area hospitals, go online at www.healthgrades.com.

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