Beatrice Community Hospital Home Health is among the Top 500 home health agencies in the country.

BCH Home Health has been named to the 2009 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the top performing home health agencies in the United States. This annual review identifies the Top 25 percent of agencies and further highlights the top 500 agencies overall.

Winners are ranked by an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, quality improvement and financial performance.

"We set this as a goal to be part of the Top 500," said Shelley Whitwer, BCH Home Health director. "The staff worked really hard. They truly care about their patients and it shows. I would like to congratulate not just our nurses, but also the home health aides, the physical, occupational and speech therapy staff, and the office personnel."

HomeCare Elite has recognized BCH Home Health for quality performance the past three years.

HomeCare Elite is the only performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry. HomeCare Elite is a joint project of OCS Inc., a leading provider of healthcare information, and DecisionHealth, publisher of the home care independent newsletter, Home Health Line. The data used for the HomeCare Elite analysis was compiled from publicly available information.

Eleven Nebraska agencies made the national 2009 HomeCare Elite Top 25 Percent, two agencies were included in the Top 500 and two agencies were included in the Top 100.