Greater Facts - GBMC HealthCare

Throughout our almost 60-year history, GBMC HealthCare has been recognized for excellence on national, regional and local levels. These acknowledgements not only provide confirmation of the value of GBMC’s services but also reassurance to patients and pride to our employees. The following list includes a selection of awards, accomplishments and recognitions we have received within the past 10 years.

CLINICAL EXCELLENCE

National Recognition

• The Advanced Radiology Breast Imaging Center was designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology Commission on Quality and Safety and ACR’s Commission on Breast Imaging.
• The Greater Baltimore Cleft Lip and Palate Team was approved by the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (ACPA) and the Cleft Palate Foundation (CPF) as a Cleft Palate Team. By being an approved Team, the group meets the standards that identify essential characteristics of quality for team composition and functioning in order to facilitate the improvement of team care.
• GBMC’s Comprehensive Obesity Management Program (COMP) earned Level 1 accreditation by the American College of Surgeons Bariatric Surgery Center Network (ACS BSCN).
• GBMC was designated as a Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Center of Excellence by the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation.
• GBMC was one of 263 hospitals that ranked among the top five percent of the nation’s hospitals, according to a survey by HealthGrades, and was named a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence in 2012.
• GBMC was one of eight hospitals in the state of Maryland to be awarded the International Lactation Consultant Association Care Award which recognizes hospitals for their efforts to support and promote breastfeeding.
• GBMC received accreditation by The Joint Commission, the accrediting body for healthcare organizations.
• GBMC has been awarded Advanced Certification as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission.
• The Joint Center has been awarded Advanced Certification for Total Knee and Total Hip Replacement by the Joint Commission since 2019.
• GBMC has received a Get with the Guidelines Gold Achievement Award for sustained high quality by nursing and physician teams from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
• GBMC’s Main Laboratory and Arterial Blood Gas Laboratory received accreditation by the College of American Pathologists’ Laboratory Accreditation Program.
• GBMC received a Certificate of Accreditation for Transfusion Activities and Transfusion – Autologous by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB).
• Four GBMC primary care physician practices were recognized as Level 3 Physician Practice Connections-Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PPC-PCMH) by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). These include GBMC at Hunt Manor, GBMC at Hunt Valley, GBMC at Texas Station and Family Care Associates.
• Gilchrist Hospice Care has received:
  • A Circle of Life Award and a Circle of Life Citation of Honor from the American Hospital Association for its innovative and comprehensive approach to end-of-life care.
  • Accreditation from The Joint Commission.
• GBMC’s Radiation Oncology Department received accreditation from the American College of Radiology/American Society for Radiation Oncology.
• The Sandra & Malcolm Berman Cancer Institute at GBMC:
  • Received full three-year accreditation with commendations from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
  • Received the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Clinical Trials Participation Award.
  • Received full accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.
  • Received a three-year Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) certification from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for outpatient hematology/oncology.
• GBMC’s Sleep Center was accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
• GBMC was recognized by Newsweek as America's Greatest Workplaces 2023 and America's Greatest Workplaces for Diversity 2023. 

Regional/Local Recognition

• Baltimore magazine’s annual listing of “Top Docs” consistently includes many of the hospital’s physicians; in fact, GBMC frequently has more doctors highlighted in this ranking than any other community hospital.
• GBMC received two Circle of Honor for Patient Safety Innovation awards from the Maryland Patient Safety Center for its patient safety initiatives Know, Show and Go and Lean Daily Management: Hand Hygiene
• GBMC has been recognized as a Maryland Patient Safety Center “Top Performer” for the 2nd quarter of 2013 for having a minimum 90 percent overall hand hygiene compliance rate for three consecutive months.
• GBMC was designated as a Primary Stroke Center by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS).
• Maryland Family magazine readers have consistently ranked GBMC as the “Best Maternity Hospital.”
• GBMC was named Baltimore's Best Hospital by the readers of the Baltimore Sun in 2023.

ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE

• GBMC was honored with a Trailblazer Award by the Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (MD H2E) for its leadership in advancing sustainability in its operations.
• GBMC has received several awards from Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading healthcare membership community, focusing on increasing efficiencies and environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care:
  • A Partner for Change Award for its success in improving its environmental performance and its dedication to a higher standard of sustainability.
  • A Partner for Change Award which acknowledges healthcare facilities that continuously improve and expand upon their mercury elimination, waste reduction, recycling and source reduction programs.
  • The “Making Medicine Mercury-Free” Award which recognizes facilities that have virtually eliminated the harmful chemical mercury from their facilities through purchasing policies and staff education.

RECOGNITION BY INSURERS

• GBMC is a designated Aetna Institute of Quality for Bariatric Surgery.
• GBMC has been given the Blue Distinction by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield for bariatrics.
• GBMC is part of the Clinical Sciences Institute (CSI) of Optum’s Bariatric Centers of Excellence network.

GBMC is proud to be at the forefront of the latest surgical techniques and advanced treatment options. The list below demonstrates our commitment to continuous improvement, quality and finding new approaches to care.

GBMC “FIRSTS”

• GBMC physicians performed:
  • The first bilateral simultaneous cochlear implant surgery at a community (non-academic) hospital in Maryland.
  • The first daVinci® robot-assisted bladder cancer surgery and gynecologic surgery at a community hospital in the mid-Atlantic region.
  • The first procedure in the United States to treat lower back and leg pain using the Dynesys® Spinal System.
  • The first TransOral Robotic Surgery at a community hospital in the country.
  • The first TransOral Robotic Surgery on a patient with a left parapharyngeal tumor in the state of Maryland.
  • Maryland’s first FDA-approved X-Stop® surgery to treat lumbar spinal stenosis.
• GBMC’s Department of Ophthalmology/Hoover Low Vision Services physicians were the first in Maryland to use the OPKO OCT/SLO/Microperimeter to treat low vision patients by better understanding the relationship between retinal disease and function.
• GBMC’s Department of Radiation Oncology:
  • Was the first in the region to introduce guided radiation therapy using cone beam technology for targeting tumors.
  • Was the first in the region to use Linear Accelerator RapidArc® technology.
• GBMC was:
  • The first community hospital to join the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, an initiative aimed at developing quality initiatives to improve surgical care.
  • The first community hospital in Maryland to offer Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Surgery (LESS).
  • The first community hospital to have operating rooms and staff dedicated solely to eye surgery and the first to acquire the VRmagic eye surgery simulator for surgical training.
  • The first hospital in metropolitan Baltimore to implement a smoke- and tobacco-free campus.

GBMC HealthCare includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center, a 257 licensed bed facility which opened in 1965 and provides Health, Healing and Hope; Greater Baltimore Medical Associates, a group of more than 40 multi-specialty physician practices on the hospital’s Towson campus and locations across the region; Greater Baltimore Health Alliance, an alliance of GBMC-employed and private practicing physician partners; Gilchrist Hospice Care, Maryland’s largest hospice organization offering care in-home as well as in a 34-bed inpatient center on the GBMC Towson campus and at a 10-bed inpatient center in Howard County; and the GBMC Foundation, which raises funds to support the organization’s mission. For more information, visit www.gbmc.org.