BREWER – Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems said Wednesday that three of its member hospitals – Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Inland Hospital in Waterville, and Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield – have received Exemplary Service Overall Best Performer awards for 2006 from Avatar International, an organization specializing in health care research and consulting.

The award is presented to hospitals with the highest overall combined patient satisfaction scores in the categories of inpatient, outpatient, emergency department and ambulatory surgery. The award is given to the top 12 hospitals in Avatar’s national database.

The 2006 award marks EMMC’s fourth year in a row as a recipient. EMMC is one of only three hospitals in the Avatar database to achieve Overall Best Performer status for four consecutive years.