December 18, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital has again won the National Research Corporation (NRC) Consumer Choice Award based on consumer perceptions of quality and image. UAB, which has won this award every year since 2000, is the only hospital in the Birmingham Metropolitan Statistical Area listed among the NRC's 250 top hospitals. 

In what NRC calls "the nation's most comprehensive consumer assessment of the health-care industry," consumers named 3,200 hospitals in 190 markets throughout the contiguous United States. The annual survey represented 400,000 consumers in 200,000 households.

"We are honored to receive the Consumer Choice Award again, especially as this award comes directly from the people whom we serve," said Michael R. Waldrum, M.D., M.S., MBA, chief executive officer of UAB Hospital.

"Our goal at UAB Hospital is to provide the highest quality of care possible to our patients and their families," Waldrum said. "Recognition such as this is a good barometer of our success and motivation for all of us to continue to provide the very best medical care."

About the National Research Corporation

National Research Corporation (NRC) continues to pace the performance-measurement industry with the Healthcare Market Guide. Its annual study provides health-care organizations with the most comprehensive, consumer-reported assessment of hospitals, health systems and health plans available in the marketplace today.

About the UAB Health System

The UAB Health System includes all of the University of Alabama at Birmingham patient-care activities, including UAB Hospital, the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital and The Kirklin Clinic. UAB is the state of Alabama's largest employer and an internationally renowned research university and academic health center; its professional schools and specialty patient-care programs consistently rank among the nation's top 50; find more information at www.uab.edu and www.uabmedicine.org.