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A national health care ratings organization has given UPMC McKeesport a "Distinguished Hospital Award" for clinical excellence.

Golden, Colo., based Health Grades Inc. says the city's hospital is one of 19 in Pennsylvania with a mortality rate significantly lower than the national average.

In addition, patients undergoing surgery at UPMC McKeesport are less likely to suffer complications.

The study released last week places the hospital --- which has 216 beds for acute care and 56 for skilled-nursing patients --- among the top five percent in the nation for patient survival.

Health Grades Inc. is an independent, for-profit company that analyzes statistics and provides reports to insurance plans and hospitals about health care quality.

The seventh-annual Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence Study looked at survival rates for 26 different treatments for patients suffering life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks, strokes and pneumonia; as well as for patients recovering from surgeries such as joint replacements.

UPMC McKeesport was one of four hospitals in Allegheny County honored by Health Grades, including West Penn's Forbes Regional Campus in Monroeville and Alle-Kiski Medical Center in Natrona Heights, and UPMC St. Margaret in O'Hara Township.

"Many hospitals excel in a given service line, but what differentiates these top hospitals is their quality achievement across a broad range of procedures and treatments," a Health Grades spokesman said.

The data from 2005 through 2007 --- compiled from 41 million patient records at 5,000 facilities --- was "risk adjusted" so that hospitals that admitted sicker patients were not penalized and were compared on equal terms with peer institutions.

The report was released two weeks after officials selected UPMC McKeesport as one of several community hospitals across the nation that will be allowed to perform angioplasties during a clinical trial.

Angioplasties --- widening a clogged artery or vein using a balloon --- are usually done only at hospitals equipped to perform open-heart surgeries.

The "Atlantic Cardiovascular Patient Outcomes Research Team Clinical Trial" being coordinated by researchers from Johns Hopkins and Duke universities will try to determine if patients suffer any higher risk of complications by having an angioplasty done at a community hospital.

Some community hospitals --- including Uniontown Hospital --- have already received waivers to perform angioplasties.

The research team at McKeesport is being led by Dr. Stephen Bowser of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab along with Drs. Simon Chough and Francis Ergina.

Mon-Yough area patients who need angioplasties and do not want to travel to a Pittsburgh hospital will need to consent to enrollment in the clinical trial. About 75 percent of patients who give their consent will be able to receive the treatment at UPMC McKeesport, Bowser said in a news release.

Hospital staff in the emergency room and cardiovascular unit have undergone additional training to prepare for participation in the study, he said.