Wake Forest Baptist Wins Consumer Choice Award

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – November 1, 2011 – National Research Corp. (NRC) has named Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center the winner of the 2011-2012 Consumer Choice Award as the top-rated hospital in the Winston-Salem area.

This marks the 12th consecutive year that Wake Forest Baptist has received a Consumer Choice Award from NRC, a Lincoln, Neb.-based health care research company that annually recognizes hospitals receiving the highest quality and image ratings from consumers in more than 300 markets across the country.

NRC’s Consumer Choice Awards are based on surveys of approximately 250,000 households in the United States. The hospitals named by consumers in those surveys are grouped by Core Based Statistical Ares (CBSAs) – geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget -- and ranked according to their scores in multiple consumer-perception categories.

The Winston-Salem CBSA includes Forsyth, Davie, Stokes and Yadkin counties.

 “Consumers are taking a more proactive role in their health care decisions and demanding higher quality. In a constantly changing health care industry, consumer perception is becoming more and more vital to the success of all hospitals,” said Susan L. Hendricks, NRC’s president and chief operating officer. “The Consumer Choice Award recognizes those facilities that are meeting or exceeding the needs of consumers – their patients.”

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