NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln Receives National Recognition for Meritorious Outcomes from the American College Of Surgeons
Lincoln Hospital is one of only 76 hospitals nationwide to receive this prestigious recognition for excellence in surgical care and patient outcomes
Dec 29, 2025
NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln announced today that the hospital has received national acclaim for excellence in surgical care, earning prestigious recognition as a meritoriously performing hospital from the American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). This distinction places Lincoln Hospital among an elite group of 76 hospitals across the country that demonstrated outstanding surgical quality and patient safety outcomes in 2024. Hospitals who participate in ACS NSQIP are required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and collect data that assesses patient safety, which leads to direct improvement in the quality of surgical care. The award evaluates performance across eight critical areas, including mortality, cardiac complications, pneumonia, surgical site infections, and other key indicators of surgical success.
“As a Level I trauma center with one of the busiest emergency department in the nation, receiving recognition from the American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Program is a powerful affirmation of the exceptional work happening every day at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln,” said Cristina Contreras, LMSW, MPA, FABC, DHL, Chief Executive Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln. “This achievement reflects outstanding care across the entire perioperative continuum and underscores the culture of teamwork, safety, and equity that defines us. Our clinical teams’ commitment to excellence ensures that even the most complex and vulnerable patients receive the highest standard of care, ensuring that our patients receive world-class care close to home.”
“We commend all ACS NSQIP-participating hospitals because they have committed to using high-quality data to improve the surgical care of their patients,” said Clifford Y. Ko, MD, MS, MSHS, FACS, FASCRS, Senior Vice President of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care. “NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln has gone a step further — not only do they use the data effectively, they also have the results to prove they are achieving optimal patient outcomes. We are particularly proud of their achievements in this increasingly difficult climate.”
The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving a meritorious composite score in either an “All Cases” category or a category which includes higher risk cases (“High Risk”). Risk-adjusted data from the July 2025 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2024 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes. NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln is one of 43 hospitals recognized on both the “All Cases” and “High Risk” Meritorious lists.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by ACS NSQIP for our meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care, because the safety and well-being of each and every patient who undergoes surgery at Lincoln remains front and center in our approach to surgical care,” said Valerie Katz, MD, Interim Chair of Surgery at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln. “This achievement reflects the dedication and collaboration of our surgical teams, who consistently rise to meet the challenges of delivering exceptional care to every patient, including those with the most complex conditions.”
ACS NSQIP is the preeminent, nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. This program measures the actual surgical results 30 days postoperatively as well as risk adjusts patient characteristics to compensate for differences among patient populations and acuity levels. The goal of ACS NSQIP is to reduce surgical morbidity (infection or illness related to a surgical procedure) and surgical mortality (death related to a surgical procedure) and to provide a firm foundation for surgeons to apply what is known as the “best scientific evidence” to the practice of surgery. Furthermore, when adverse effects from surgical procedures are reduced and/or eliminated, a reduction in healthcare costs follows. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the ACS and is currently used in over 850 adult or pediatric hospitals. Hospitals participating in ACS NSQIP are designated as ACS Surgical Quality Partners.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Natasha Burke, NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, 929-837-9166
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About NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln
NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, located in the South Bronx, is a 362-bed, Acute Care Level 1 Trauma Center and sees more than 168,000 emergency room visits and more than 600,000 outpatient visits annually. Clinical centers of excellence include: Emergency Medicine and Trauma Care; Breast Imaging; Designated Stroke Center, Diabetes Center and HIV/AIDS Center. Lincoln Hospital was the first Baby-Friendly designated hospital in the Bronx, providing clinical services and consultations for over 1,500 deliveries per year. The hospital emphasizes primary care and specialty medicine, using the latest advances in medical science. Lincoln is part of NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public health care system in the nation. For more information visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org/lincoln or follow us on Instagram at www.Instagram.com/LincolnHospBX and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LincolnHosp.
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlusHealth plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 46,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
