Awards and accreditations

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Kansas City Favorites 2024
(popular vote in KC Star contest)

• Favorite Hospital – 2nd place
• Favorite Place to Have a Baby– 2nd place
• Favorite Urgent Care – 3rd place
• Favorite Pediatrician – Priority Care Pediatrics (medical staff)

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Best of the Northland 2024
(popular vote in Courier-Tribune contest)

GOLD

• Sports Medicine
• Urgent Care
• Orthopedic Physician - Andrew Taiber, MD
• Family Physician - Elizabeth Gerstner, MD, Liberty Clinic
• OB/GYN – Timothy Billharz, MD, Northland OB/GYN
• Podiatrist – Matthew Nielsen, MD, Comprehensive Foot and Ankle Centers

SILVER

• Hospital
• Emergency Room
• Cardiologist - Dwarak Soundarraj, MD
• OB/GYN – Laura Wolfe, MD, Northland Women’s Health Care

BRONZE

• Cardiologist - Demetrios Maragos, MD
• Orthopedic Physician - Santosh George, MD
• Family Physician - Steven Nelson, MD, Northland Family Care
• Podiatrist - Akilis Theoharidis, DPM, Ankle and Foot Centers of Missouri
• OB/GYN - Kelly Nichols, MD, Northland Women’s Health Care

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Platinum status in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best Hospitals edition for chest pain program. To achieve Platinum status, the team — for the fifth consecutive year — scored above 90% on 14 metrics set by the American College of Cardiology. We are one of five Kansas City hospitals to demonstrate and sustain the top level of performance in quality of care and adherence to guideline recommendations.

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Gold Plus Award from the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines program for Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. This is the seventh consecutive year for the Gold Plus honor, the third consecutive year for Honor Roll Elite and the fifth consecutive year for the Diabetes Honor Roll. These awards recognize the hospital’s commitment to providing quality care for stroke patients, ensuring they receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability. Liberty Hospital is a state-designated Time Critical Diagnosis Center for trauma, stroke and heart attack.

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Breast Care Center celebrates another year with no infractions for the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQA). The FDA and Congress implemented MQSA to regulate the quality of care in mammography. The Breast Care Center is inspected annually, with an emphasis on quality assurance, regulatory compliance and patient safety.

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Kansas City Magazine’s Top Docs 2024: Chosen by their peers.

Cardiovascular Disease
Dwarak Soundarraj, MD – Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Otolaryngology
Matthew E. Beuerlein, MD – Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic

Internal Medicine
Neal B. Anson, MD – Liberty Clinic

Sports Medicine
Alexander Schoofs, MD

Gastroenterology
Jonathan P. Horowitz, DO – Consultants in Gastroenterology

OB/GYN
Kelly B. Nichols, DO – Northland Women's Health Care

Northland Obstetrics & Gynecology

• Timothy Billharz, MD
• Ward W. Ohlhausen, MD
• Kent Tegeler, MD

Urology
Justin Albani, MD - Kansas City Urology Care
James Magera, MD - Kansas City Urology Care

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Spring 2023 - Our patient satisfaction ratings consistently exceed national and local averages – and as the only Northland hospital to receive an "A" safety grade four consecutive times from The Leapfrog Group, we are proud to be the highest-ranking hospital for safety in the Northland. We care deeply about delivering excellence in safety, outcomes and patient experience.

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Best of the Northland 2023

GOLD

• Physical Therapist - Debra Hohn, PT, Sports Medicine
• Eye Surgeon - Brett McKnight, MD, McNight Eye Center
• OB/GYN - Laura Wolfe, MD, Northland Women’s Health Care
• Podiatrist – Robert Shemwell, DPM

SILVER

• Hospital, ER, Sports Medicine and Urgent Care
• Audiologist - Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic
• Family Physician – Elizabeth Gerstner, MD, Liberty Clinic
• Physical Therapist – Debbie Bryant, PT, Sports Medicine
• Podiatrist – Thomas Boldry, DPM, Comprehensive Foot and Ankle Centers

BRONZE

• Cardiologist – Calvin Madrigal, MD
• Family Physician – Christopher Cooper, MD, Excelsior Springs Clinic
• Medical Clinic – Liberty Clinic
• OB/GYN - Timothy Billharz, MD, Northland OB/GYN
• Podiatrist – Akilis Theoharidis, DPM, Ankle and Foot Centers of Missouri

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Gold Plus Award from the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines program for Stroke Honor Roll Elite and Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. We consistently rank high with this program. These awards recognize the hospital’s commitment to providing quality care for stroke patients, ensuring they receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately leading to more lives saved and reduced disability. Liberty Hospital is a state-designated Time Critical Diagnosis Center for trauma, stroke and heart attack.

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Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award from the American College of Cardiology. For the fifth year in a row, this recognition puts Liberty Hospital among the top in the nation for treatment of heart attack patients. Hospitals that received this award are included in the special U.S. News & World Report "Best Hospitals" guidebook.

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2023 MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle from the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Liberty Hospital is one of only 15 healthcare organizations to receive this recognition nationwide. This is the second time the hospital has won this award, which recognizes healthcare organizations that have excelled in meeting industry standard revenue cycle benchmarks, implemented patient-centered practices, focused their efforts on improving price transparency and achieved outstanding patient satisfaction.

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The American Diabetes Association has renewed our accreditation through its Education Recognition Program. The hospital's diabetes program has been accredited since 2008.

Kansas City Magazine’s Top Docs 2023: Chosen by their peers.

Cardiovascular Disease
Dwarak Soundarraj, MD – Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Cardiac Electrophysiology
Ravi K. Yarlagadda, MD – Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Otolaryngology
Matthew E. Beuerlein, MD – The Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic

Internal Medicine
Neal B. Anson, MD – The Liberty Clinic

Sports Medicine
Alexander Schoofs, MD – Primary Care Shoal Creek

Gastroenterology
Jonathan P. Horowitz, DO – Consultants in Gastroenterology

OB/GYN
Kelly B. Nichols, DO – Northland Women's Health Care

Northland Obstetrics & Gynecology

• Timothy Billharz, MD
• Ward W. Ohlhausen, MD
• Kent E. Tegeler, MD

Urology
Justin Albani, MD - Kansas City Urology Care
James Magera, MD - Kansas City Urology Care

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Silver Safe Sleep Hospital

The Liberty Hospital Birthing Center achieved National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification and is designated a Silver Safe Sleep Hospital by Nurture KC.

Congratulations to Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists and the entire team for earning the American College of Cardiology's NCDR Chest Pain – MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for the fourth year in a row. This puts Liberty Hospital among the top 406 hospitals in the nation for treatment of heart attack patients.

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Liberty Hospital has been awarded national accreditation by the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer (CoC) for delivering high-quality, multidisciplinary, patient-centered care to cancer patients. This is an outstanding accomplishment by our Cancer Committee and reflects the partnership of Liberty Hospital and Saint Luke's Cancer Institute to deliver comprehensive care.

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For the second consecutive evaluation period, Liberty Hospital has received an “A” grade for its dedication to patient safety from The Leapfrog Group, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries and infections. Among hospitals in the Northland, Liberty Hospital was ranked the highest for safety by The Leapfrog Group two years in a row.

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Newsweek and its global research partner, Statista, named the Surgery Center at Liberty Hospital a Top Ten Best Ambulatory Surgery Center for 2022 in the state of Missouri, and one of America’s Best. The research project evaluated expert assessments as well as performance data including a reputation score and key performance indicator data score for more than 4,600 ambulatory surgery centers across the country.

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Pulmonologist and critical care specialist Dr. Patrick Perkins served as a leader and expert throughout the pandemic. Ingram's Magazine named him among Kansas City’s 2022 Heroes in Healthcare.

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We are proud to be designated as a Top Performer in the 2022 Healthcare Equality Index. Only 251 facilities nationwide received this designation which evaluates our equitable and inclusive care for LGBTQ+ patients and their families.

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Kansas City Magazine’s Top Docs 2022: Chosen by their peers.

Cardiovascular Disease
Dwarak Soundarraj, MD – Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Cardiac Electrophysiology
Ravi K. Yarlagadda, MD – Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Interventional Cardiology
Daniel H. Dunker, MD - Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Otolaryngology
Matthew E. Beuerlein, MD – The Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic

Neurological Surgery
Clifford M. Gall, MD – Advanced Spine and Brain Center

Internal Medicine
Neal B. Anson, MD – The Liberty Clinic

Sports Medicine
Alexander Schoofs, MD – Primary Care Shoal Creek

Gastroenterology
Jonathan P. Horowitz, DO – Consultants in Gastroenterology

OB/GYN
Kelly B. Nichols, DO – Northland Women's Health Care

Northland Obstetrics & Gynecology

• Timothy Billharz, MD
• Ward W. Ohlhausen, MD
• Kent E. Tegeler, MD

2022 Best of the Northland - Courier-Tribune

Gold
Hospital
Medical Clinic - The Liberty Clinic
Sports Medicine
Urgent Care
Cardiologist - Dr. Demetrios Maragos
Family Physician - Dr. Elizabeth Gerstner, The Liberty Clinic
Walking Trails - hospital walking trail

Silver
Family Physician - Dr. Brian Gillenwater, The Liberty Clinic
Physical Therapist - Amy Fulte, Liberty Hospital Therapy Services

Bronze
Emergency Room
Ear, Nose & Throat Physician - Dr. Matthew Beuerlein
Physical Therapist - Matt St. John, Liberty Hospital Sports Medicine

Congratulations to additional members of our medical staff:

OB/GYN - Northland Women's Health Care

• Dr. Jill Sampson - gold
• Dr. Laura Wolfe - silver
• Dr. Bridget Abney - bronze

Podiatrist

• Dr. Matthew Nielsen - gold
• Dr. Thomas Boldrey - silver
• Dr. Robert Shemwell - bronze

Quality & Patient Satisfaction

Our patient satisfaction ratings consistently exceed national and local averages – and as the only Northland hospital to receive an "A" safety grade from The Leapfrog Group (Fall 2021), we are proud to be the highest-ranking hospital for safety in the Northland.

Dr. Brad Garstang was named a Top Doctor for 2021 by Ingram's Magazine.

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We are proud to be recognized by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for following the latest research-based standards for stroke care and to receive a 2021 Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus Achievement Award.

Liberty Hospital received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for the third consecutive year. Liberty Hospital is one of only 212 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor in 2021.

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Kansas City Magazine’s Top Docs 2021: Chosen by their peers.

Cardiovascular Disease & Vascular Surgery
Dwarakraj Soundarraj, MD – Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Cardiac Electrophysiology & Vascular Surgery
Ravi K. Yarlagadda, MD – Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Interventional Cardiology
Daniel H. Dunker, MD - Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Otolaryngology
Matthew E. Beuerlein, MD – The Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic

Neurological Surgery
Clifford M. Gall, MD – Advanced Spine and Brain Center

Internal Medicine
Neal B. Anson, MD – The Liberty Clinic

Gastroenterology
Jonathan P. Horowitz, DO – Consultants in Gastroenterology

OB/GYN

Kelly B. Nichols, DO – Northland Women’s Health Care

Northland Obstetrics & Gynecology

• Timothy Billharz, MD
• Ward W. Ohlhausen, MD
• Kent E. Tegeler, MD

2024 Best of the Northland

GOLD

• Best Hospital in the Northland
• Best ER
• Family Physician – Dr. Kay Gerstner, The Liberty Clinic
• Sports Medicine
• Urgent Care

SILVER

• Cardiologist – Dr. Demetrios Maragos, Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists
• Family Physician – Dr. Neal Anson, The Liberty Clinic
• Volunteer Group – Liberty Hospital Foundation

BRONZE

• Cardiologist – Dr. Daniel Dunker, Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists

Liberty Hospital also extends congratulations to physicians on our extended medical staff:

Eye Surgeon - McKnight Eye Centers – gold

OB/GYN – Northland Obstetrics and Gynecology

• Tim Billharz, gold
• Ward Ohlhausen, silver
• Tracia West, bronze

Podiatrist – Dr. Matthew Nielsen, Comprehensive Foot Center

2020

• American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain - MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2020. Liberty Hospital is one of only 140 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor. The hospital demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019), and performed at the highest level for specific performance measures to receive this 2020 award.

• American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines^®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Award and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll Award. See press release.

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  Healthcare Financial Management Association's (HFMA) 2020 MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle. Liberty Hospital is among 23 health providers in the nation to receive this recognition for innovative revenue cycle practices, and it is the only one in Missouri to earn this distinction.

• Supporter of the Patient Financial Communications Best Practices
  by the HFMA. Demonstrating that it follows nearly 100 best practices in financial interactions with patients, Liberty Hospital joins a select group of healthcare providers that have received this first-of-its-kind national recognition.

• Healthcare Business Insight’s 2019 Revenue Cycle Award. Liberty Hospital was one of only four hospitals in the nation to receive the honor. See complete press release

• Spring 2020 Grade A by the Leapfrog Group, a national hospital watchdog organization

2020 Best of the Northland

GOLD
Sports Medicine
The Liberty Clinic
Urgent Care
McKnight Eye Centers
Ward Ohlhausen, MD, Northland OB

State-Designated Level II STEMI Center

American College of Cardiology’s NCDR ACTION Registry Silver Performance Achievement Award: Liberty Hospital is one of only 95 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor.

American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines^®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Target: Stroke^SM Honor Roll Award

Best of the Northland:

• LEAPFROG Safety Score A for Patient Safety in Spring and Fall 2016 Hospital Safety Score.
• Best Hospital in the Northland
• Best Place to Work (50+ Employees)
• 100% Patient Satisfaction Rating for the Breast Care Center (HealthStream)
• Liberty Hospital Hospice - SHP Best Premier Performer Patient Satisfaction Award
• Accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

2015

• LEAPFROG Safety Score A for Patient Safety in 2015 Hospital Safety Score.
• 2015 Platinum Performance Achievement Award Action Registry – GWTG from the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, American College of Emergency Physicians and the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care
• The Birthing Center at Liberty Hospital was named to the Immunization Action Coalition’s Birth Dose Honor Roll.
• Kyle Schneweis, M.D., CIC, earns credentials to provide ImPACT Concussion Care Management.
• Primaris – Making The Difference Award
• Missouri Hospital Engagement Network Improving Individually, Learning Collabortively recognition for 2012 and 2013
• Missouri State Quality Assessment (MSQR) survey of Women’s Imaging
• 2015 Quality Respiratory Care Recognition from the American Association for Respiratory Care
• 2015 Mission: Lifeline® Bronze Plus Receiving Center award by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. The award recognizes Liberty Hospital‘s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of STEMI care by ensuring that STEMI patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.
• Liberty Hospital Breastfeeding Friendly Worksite Award 2014 - 2015
• Missouri “Show Me 5” Hospital Initiative – award 2015

2014

• Liberty Hospital was the gold award winner in the Best of the Northland contest in 2014. Readers across the Northland vote for their favorites in a variety of categories. Liberty Hospital also received a silver award for Best Place to Work in the Northland. Other 2014 winners were: Cardiologist - Dwarak Soundarraj, M.D., FACC - Gold and Demetrios Maragos, M.D., FACC - Bronze; Medical Clinic - The Liberty Clinic - Silver; Family Physician - Brad Garstang, M.D. - Bronze; In-Home Care - Liberty Hospital Home Health - Gold.
• The American Nurses Association NDNQI recognition for Outstanding Commitment to Quality Patient Care Award 2014
• The Birthing Center at Liberty Hospital was the second hospital in the state to be named to the Immunization Action Coalition’s Birth Dose Honor Roll.
• Named by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of of the nations “100 Hospitals with Great Heart Programs”
• Platinum Performance Achievement Award (2014, 2015)—American College of Cardiology Foundation NCDR® ACTION Registry®—GWTG – (for performance with Acute Myocardial Infarction – Heart attack patients)
• Recognition for contributions with Missouri HEN (Hospital Engagement Network) –Award 2014

2013

• Voted Favorite Place to Have a Baby in Missouri by readers of KC Parent magazine in the 2013 Family Favorites Contest.
• Liberty Hospital was named to the list of 100 Hospitals With Great Heart Programs by Becker's Hospital Review.
• Platinum Performance Achievement Award (2012, 2013)—American College of Cardiology Foundation NCDR® ACTION Registry®—GWTG.
• Best of the Northland 2013
  • Best Hospital—Silver Award
  • Best Medical Clinic—Silver Award—The Liberty Clinic
  • Best Cardiologist—Silver Award—Dr. Dwarak Soundarraj
  • Best Pediatrician—Bronze Award—Dr. Elizabeth Gerstner

2011

• Liberty Hospital was recognized by Primaris, Missouri's Quality Improvement Organization, with a quality award for our medication reconciliation process and surgical care improvement projects.
• Liberty Hospital was named as one of the best hospitals in the metropolitan area by U.S. News & World Report.
• The Health Resource Library received the award for Excellence in Consumer Services from the Health Sciences Library Network of Kansas City.
• Best of the Northland 2011.
  • Best Hospital—Gold Award.
  • Best Medical Clinic—Silver Award—The Liberty Clinic.