Providence Newberg Medical Center was rated the highest for customer satisfaction of Portland area hospitals.  PNMC scored the highest in seven out of 10 categories related to customer satisfaction, including cleanliness; helpfulness of doctors, nurses and staff; overall experience and whether the patient would recommend the hospital to others — with 84 to 72 percent approval ratings in most categories.
   The opinions were collected as part of a nationwide survey, through a poll of individuals chosen at random from among 2.4 million former patients.
   The survey, called the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, was carried out by the federal government.
  
   Complete information is available on the Web at www.hospital-compare.hhs.gov.