 St. Mary’s named ‘2006 Large Hospital of the Year’ The Alliance recognized the hospital’s numerous healthcare initiatives and participation in community programs designed to improve the quality of life for residents in the Athens area. In the past year, St. Mary’s offered numerous wellness outreach and educational forums around stroke prevention and has built and dedicated the region’s first inpatient Hospice House. Recently, the hospital received approval on its certificate-of-need application to build a new cardiac cath/electrophysiology laboratory. St. Mary’s also increased its participation in community service. Hospital president and CEO, Tom Fitz, is chairman of the regional United Way campaign and board member, Judge Steve C. Jones, is chairman of Partners for a Prosperous Athens, a community partnership designed to identify and address the causes of poverty in the area. “The Alliance is pleased to honor St. Mary’s as it celebrates 100 years of service to the Athens community,” said Monty M. Veazey, president of the Alliance. “St. Mary’s truly exemplifies the mission of Georgia’s not-for-profit hospitals and the hospital’s administration, staff, and physicians are all well deserving of this honor.” “With so many excellent hospitals in this state, being selected as the Large Hospital of the Year is truly a great honor,” said St. Mary’s President and CEO Tom Fitz. “I am very proud of St. Mary’s employees, board members and physicians and their relentless focus on excellence. We are committed to continuing to raise the bar in terms of quality health care for our region.”
St. Mary's score of 100 was established by the Georgia Partnership for Health and Accountability, a division of the Georgia Hospital Association. St. Mary's score, which is more than 9 points above the state average, reflects how well St. Mary’s measures up in several key patient care areas such as heart attack care and medication safety. The scoring system is part of PHA’s Hospital Relative Quality Index, designed to help hospitals evaluate how well they comply with best practices in the health care industry for patient treatment and safety. PHA reports that for 2005, the average score for about 190 participating Georgia hospitals was 90.4. St. Mary’s secures continued accreditation This year’s accreditation came under JCAHO’s Shared Vision-New Pathways survey method. JCAHO describes Shared Pathways as “an entirely new approach to evaluating quality and safety in your organization. It is truly an audit of the actual delivery of critical services and not a review of policies.” JCAHO goes on to say: “Shared Visions-New Pathways shifts the view of accreditation. It’s no longer a snapshot. It is a feature-length film, providing panoramic insight into your organization’s daily operations and systems.” “This new survey method provides true validation of St. Mary’s continuous improvement efforts,” says Jeff Frehse, Director of Risk Management and Quality Improvement. “The tracer methodology provides a valid, independent confirmation of St. Mary’s commitment to delivering safe, high-quality care all the time, not just at survey time.” St. Mary’s has been continuously accredited by the Joint Commission since 1954, just a few years after the Joint Commission was created. Submitting to the accreditation process is voluntary and reflects a hospital’s dedication to meeting the highest standards of patient care.
Home Health Care Services achieves 100 percent in overall quality “We are shifting the culture from mainly focusing on regulation and accreditation to giving safe, high-quality care,” says Karen Joyce, St. Mary’s Home Health Care/Hospice Director. “Over the last three to four years, home health care has been intensely focusing on patient outcomes,” says Linda Laing, Coordinator of Performance Improvement for St. Mary’s HHC services. She attributes the perfect satisfaction score to high standards, a focus on patient outcomes and highly trained staff. “We have a team of rehab, nursing professionals and home health aides who are dedicated to providing the very best quality care,” Laing says.
St. Mary’s nurse named Hospital Hero by GHA Margie was honored for helping to save the life of a young woman who boarded a three-hour flight despite a broken glucose pump and symptoms of hyperglycemia. “At 38,000 feet, hours from a hospital, with minimal equipment and cramped working conditions, Margie helped save a young woman’s life,” said Linda Bigelow, Ph.D., RN, Vice President Nursing Service. “We’re thrilled she has been recognized by the Georgia Hospital Association as one of only ten Hospital Heroes in 2005.” Family Birth Center staff honored by ADVANCE for Nurses “Nurses work hard for their patients, their facility and their coworkers. By celebrating the nursing teams who read our magazines, we aim to do our part in honoring the everyday heroes who keep our nation healthy and safe,” said Linda Jones, editorial director of ADVANCE for Nurses. “We stand behind our mission to recognize their diligence and commitment to providing the best possible care.” Dozens of nursing teams from across the Southeastern states submitted entry forms and essays to the contest. A panel of judges evaluated the entries by awarding scores on each of the following categories: awards/recognition, initiative, adaptability, teamwork, “above and beyond,” recruitment/retention and knowledge. St. Mary’s Family Birth Center received a framed certificate and other gifts to commemorate the honor.
St. Mary’s honored in Hospital of the Year contest
Also noted by judges was the hospital’s $40 million expansion and modernization project, which includes a family birth center, neonatal ICU, a women’s imaging center, an updated MRI suite and the expansion of several existing departments and services.
St. Mary’s certified as one of nation’s first 20 Stroke Centers Joint Commission experts surveyed St. Mary’s and found the stroke program demonstrates a high level of excellence. As a result, the Joint Commission has awarded St. Mary’s its Gold Seal of Approval™ and Disease-Specific Care Certification for stroke. Reviewers from the Joint Commission evaluated St. Mary’s continuum of care for stroke patients to assess St. Mary’s compliance with the Joint Commission’s national standards and performance measurement expectations for the management of chronic care illnesses. “We voluntarily pursued this comprehensive, independent evaluation to enhance the safety and quality of care we provide,” says Thomas E. Fitz, Jr., FACHE, President and CEO of St. Mary’s. “We’re very proud to achieve this distinction.” “Being certified as a disease-specific primary stroke care center is truly a great accomplishment for St. Mary’s and our community,” says McCord Smith, M.D., a neurologist with Athens Neurological Associates and a long-time member of St. Mary’s medical staff. “It demonstrates that patients suffering stroke in our area will receive treatment second to none in the nation. |
 |
St. Mary’s rated best in state in hospital quality index
top
Georgia Health System in Albany won the top honor in the large hospital category (151 beds or more).
