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NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is one of four hospitals nationwide, and the only hospital in the New York metropolitan area, recognized today by the American Hospital Association (AHA) for leadership and innovation in quality, safety, and commitment to patient care. The 2005 McKesson Quest for Quality Prize was awarded today at the 13th annual Health Forum and American Hospital Association Leadership Summit in San Diego.

"I'm very proud of our staff and that NewYork-Presbyterian has been recognized with this honor. It underscores how our academic medical center, which is dedicated to education and medical research, is simultaneously committed to taking care of patients in a warm, empathic, and responsive way," says Dr. Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

"NewYork-Presbyterian has built and sustained an organization that strives for clinical, service and operational excellence while providing safe and effective care for patients. This dedication to quality is seen through the Hospital's combined top-down and bottom-up approach to improvement," said Dick Davidson, AHA's president.

"We have implemented hospital-wide systems to communicate the importance of improving quality, safety and efficiency. All of our employees are focused on ensuring the best possible care for all our patients and this award reflects their outstanding efforts," says Dr. Steven J. Corwin, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

"We regularly measure quality throughout the Hospital and work diligently to ensure that our metrics systems are up-to-date and encompass the wide range of services we provide to our patients," says Dr. Mary R. Cooper, vice president and chief quality officer at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Along with Quest for Quality Prize finalist, NewYork-Presbyterian, three other organizations were honored by the AHA: North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, Miss. (Prize Winner); El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif. (Finalist); and Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network in Allentown, Pa (Citation of Merit). A multi-disciplinary committee of health care experts selected award recipients and honorees.

The Prize honors organizations that are committed to improving safety, patient-centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, and equity as the basis of a comprehensive quality-oriented health care system and have made progress toward making this vision a reality that other hospitals can emulate. The Prize is supported by grants from the McKesson Foundation and McKesson Corporation.

About the American Hospital Association

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include almost 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, and other providers of care.

Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.

About McKesson Foundation

The McKesson Foundation supports community-based programs and services aimed at improving the health status of at-risk children and adults. The Foundation is funded by McKesson Corporation, a Fortune 35 corporation, which is the world's largest supply management and health care information technology company.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital – based in New York City – is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,455 beds. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Allen Pavilion, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education, and community service. It ranks among the top ten in U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals," has the greatest number of physicians listed in New York magazine's "Best Doctors" issue, and is included in Solucient's top 15 major teaching hospitals. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.