LEWISTON – St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center has been named a national award winner in health care service quality by Avatar International Inc., the leader in measuring customer expectations in health care.

The awarded was for “exceeding patient expectations for the year of 2003 in emergency care.”

Dr. Michael Everett, Avatar chief executive officer, said, “This award is recognition of the St. Mary’s commitment to provide exemplary service to its community.”

Avatar, an international research and consulting group based in Orlando, Fla., provides services that include patient surveys.

In accepting the award, Dr. Sid Steinkeler, medical director of Emergency Services at St. Mary’s, said, “Through the patient survey process, we understand patients’ expectations for service quality. Our surveys are very important to our hospital to help us understand, monitor, and exceed our patients’ expectations. We hope that all of our patients complete a survey when they receive it. It was a wonderful honor to receive this award. This is a major statement about the confidence that our patients have in the care at our Emergency Department.”