Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital has been recognized as a top performer in the 2026 Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Ranking by Vizient®. The hospital is one of 27 recognized in the Large, Specialized Complex Care Medical Center Cohort for demonstrating excellence in delivering high-quality care based on the Vizient Quality and Accountability Study.
This year, 1,346 participating hospitals were segmented into seven cohorts for the Vizient Quality and Accountability Study. The study measures performance on the quality of patient care in six domains: safety, mortality, effectiveness, efficiency, patient centeredness and variation in care.
“We are incredibly proud to be recognized as a 2026 Bernard A. Birnbaum Quality Leadership Top Performer," says Kevin Andrews, chief operating officer at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital. "While this recognition reflects outstanding performance across 137 quality, safety and operational measures, it is truly a reflection of the dedication of our team. Every metric represents a patient who placed their trust in us and a team member who is committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality care to those we serve every day.”
The Vizient Quality and Accountability Study helps participating hospitals and health systems understand their performance against their peers and identifies structures and processes associated with high performance in quality and safety across a broad spectrum of patient care activity. The recognition period is for work spanning July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
“Delivering consistently high-quality care requires organizations to align clinical expertise, operational discipline and a continuous focus on improvement,” says David Levine, MD, chief medical officer, Vizient. “The hospitals recognized this year demonstrate what is possible when that commitment is embedded across the organization, resulting in better performance and, most importantly, better care for patients.”
The study also factors in measures from the Vizient Clinical Data Base and includes performance data from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey and the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network.
Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital was established in 1880 by the Sisters of Mercy as Atlanta’s first hospital. Today, it is a 410-bed adult acute-care facility that is recognized as one of the top specialty-referral hospitals in the Southeast. For more than 140 years, its mission has remained the same: To provide compassionate, clinically excellent health care in the spirit of loving service to those in need.
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