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BRENTWOOD, Tenn.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--LifePoint Hospitals (NASDAQ: LPNT), a leading hospital company focused on providing quality healthcare services close to home, is one of 26 organizations chosen by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to receive funding for additional resources and support to help hospitals make healthcare safer and less costly by targeting and reducing preventable injuries and complications from healthcare acquired conditions.

"As part of this initiative, our quality and safety staff will work with international experts, including those at Duke University Health System and the Duke Patient Safety Center, who will assist us in expanding and enhancing our quality programming and training across the nation"

As a part of the Partnership for Patients initiative, a nationwide public-private collaboration to improve the quality, safety, and affordability of healthcare for all Americans, HHS announced yesterday that $218 million will go to 26 state, regional, national, or hospital system organizations a" including more than $5 million over the next two years to fund additional resources for LifePoint Hospitalsa patient safety programs. As Hospital Engagement Networks, these organizations will help identify best practice solutions to reduce healthcare acquired conditions, and work to spread them to other hospitals and healthcare providers across the country.

aAt some point in our lives many of us are going to need hospital care and we need to be confident that no matter where we live, weare going to get the best care in the world,a said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. aThe Partnership for Patients is helping the nationas finest health systems share their knowledge and resources to make sure every hospital knows how to provide all of its patients with the highest quality care.a

aLifePoint has a long-standing commitment to provide high quality patient care in each of the communities we serve across the country,a said LifePoint Hospitals Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William F. Carpenter III. aTo be chosen by HHS to work with other healthcare providers to expand quality care in such a meaningful way is very exciting.a

The Partnership for Patients initiative brings together leaders of major hospitals, employers, physicians, nurses, and patient advocates along with state and federal governments in a shared effort to make hospital care safer, more reliable, and less costly. The Hospital Engagement Networks are a key part of that initiative, and will be funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center, which was established by the Affordable Care Act.

Launched in April 2011, the Partnership for Patients now consists of more than 6,500 partners, including over 3,167 hospitals, along with employers, health plans, physicians, nurses, patient advocates, and state and federal government officials who have pledged to work together to reduce the number of hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent and reduce hospital readmissions by 20 percent by the end of 2013.

aLifePointas hospitals nationwide will benefit from being a part of a Hospital Engagement Network,a said LifePoint Vice President of Quality Mary Margaret Huizinga, M.D. aThrough the deployment of evidence-based harm reduction and readmission strategies, our clinical teams will become more knowledgeable about safety and quality care resources. They will contribute to a cross-fertilization of ideas through the spread of best practices and experiences, creating a culture that will drive safety and quality care innovation for many years to come.a

Achieving the Partnership for Patientsa objectives would mean approximately 1.8 million fewer injuries to patients in hospitals nationwide, saving over 60,000 lives over three years, and would mean more than 1.6 million patients to recover from illness without suffering a preventable complication requiring re-hospitalization.

aAs part of this initiative, our quality and safety staff will work with international experts, including those at Duke University Health System and the Duke Patient Safety Center, who will assist us in expanding and enhancing our quality programming and training across the nation,a said LifePoint Chief Medical Officer Lanny Copeland, M.D.

Duke University Health System and the Duke Patient Safety Center will play a significant role in LifePointas Hospital Engagement Network. A world-class academic medical center, Duke is renowned for its approach to patient safety and quality and has been recognized as a national leader in quality, based on measures established by CMS and The Joint Commission (TJC). As a subcontractor, Duke will work with LifePoint to improve organizational performance and develop a culture of safety company-wide.

aDuke has a long-standing commitment to patient safety and quality, and has gained national recognition for initiatives that strengthen and improve healthcare delivery,a said Karen Frush, M.D., chief patient safety officer for Duke University Health System. aWe look forward expanding our successful partnership with LifePoint to create a program that incorporates patient safety initiatives, including evidenced-based tools, interventions and education, and complements the quality and safety programs LifePointas hospitals already have in place.a

For more information on the Partnership for Patients, please visit [ http://www.healthcare.gov/partnershipforpatients ].

About LifePoint Hospitals

LifePoint Hospitals is a leading hospital company focused on providing quality healthcare services close to home. Through its subsidiaries, LifePoint operates 54 hospital campuses in 18 states. With a mission of aMaking Communities Healthier,a LifePoint is the sole community hospital provider in the majority of the communities it serves. More information about the company, which is headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn., can be found on its Web site, [ www.LifePointHospitals.com ]. All references to aLifePoint,a aLifePoint Hospitalsa or the aCompanya used in this release refer to LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. or its affiliates.