Stroke Silver Performance Achievement AwardSt. Mary's receives stroke care award
9/30/09 — St. Mary's Health Care System has received the American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Silver Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes St. Mary's commitment to and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

"St. Mary's achievement in the Get With The Guidelines program demonstrates a high level of commitment to quality care," said Mary Robichaux, AHA Vice President for Quality Improvement Initiatives in presentating the award to St. Mary's on Sept. 30. "It takes a concerted effort by everyone in the facility to make this kind of progress."

Hospitals receiving the Get With The Guidelines Silver Performance Achievement Award have demonstrated a dedication to treating stroke patients by achieving 85 percent or higher compliance with core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for 12 consecutive months.

Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for more than 2,000 hospitals nationwide, Robichaux said, with about 800 meeting criteria for the GWTG Silver Performance Award. St. Mary's is one of 11 hospitals in Georgia meeting the Silver Award standard, she noted. The program helps hospital care teams ensure that the care provided to patients with coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke is aligned with the latest evidence-based guidelines.

"The goal of participating in Get With The Guidelines is to save lives," said Cammie Llewallyn, RN, Director of St. Mary's Neuroscience Unit and Neuroscience Critical Care Unit. "Stroke is a serious condition -- it's the number one cause of disability and the number three cause of death in our country -- but we can do more than ever before to help people prevent, survive and recover from stroke."

According to AHA, most hospitals that implement Get With The Guidelines realize measurable results, including improved patient outcomes and fewer recurring events.

"It's a difference that shows in the lives of patients and their families, in the satisfaction felt by caregivers empowered to do their best, and in the financial health of participating hospitals," AHA says of the Get With the Guidelines program.

St. Mary's is nationally recognized as a Neuroscience Center of Excellence and has been continuously certified by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations as a Certified Primary Stroke Center since 2004. St. Mary's continuum of stroke care includes:

  • Emergency protocols to speed diagnosis and treatment, including the clot-busting drug tPA when appropriate
  • Surgical capabilities for treating hemorrhagic stroke
  • Neuroscience Critical Care Unit and a neuroscience step-down nursing unit
  • The area's only inpatient rehabilitation center, the Center for Rehabilitative Medicine
  • Outpatient rehabilitation services at St. Mary's convenient Outpatient Diagnostic Rehab and Wellness Center off Ga. 316 near the Athens Perimeter
  • St. Mary's Wellness Center, the region's only Medical Fitness Center, to promote prevention and improved health following a stroke
  • Home Health Care/Hospice Services, bringing nursing, therapists, aides, social workers, palliative care and much more into the patient's home.

St. Mary's also provides the region's only neurohospitalist program, providing hospital-based physicians specializing in the care of patients with stroke and other neurological conditions.

For more information, visit St. Mary's website at www.stmarysathens.org or call 706.389.3700.

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St. Mary's wins stroke awardAmerican Stroke Association
6/17/08 – St. Mary's Health Care System has received the American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Bronze Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes St. Mary's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

"With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the GWTG–Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award addresses the important element of time," said Cammie Llewallyn, RN, CNRN, St. Mary's Director of Neurosciences.

The GWTG–Stroke award is in addition to St. Mary's certification as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

To receive the GWTG–Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award, St. Mary's consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the GWTG–Stroke program for 90 days. These guidelines include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs, and smoking cessation. The 90-day evaluation period is the first in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to continually reach the 85 percent compliance level needed to sustain this award.

"The American Stroke Association commends St. Mary's for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols," said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national Get With The Guidelines steering committee member and director of the acute stroke services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "The full implementation of acute care and secondary prevention recommendations and guidelines is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of stroke patients."

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St. Mary's named to quality honor rollGHA
5/8/08 – St. Mary's Health Care System has been named to the Georgia Hospital Association's Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Quality Honor Roll.

St. Mary's is one of 23 hospitals in Georgia to achieve this recognition. The quality honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), which administers the nation's Medicare and Medicaid programs. The data was collected from October 2006 to September 2007.

"This is a great accomplishment for St. Mary's," said Joseph Parker, president of GHA. "This recognition further underscores the commitment of the St. Mary's staff to ensuring that every patient receives the best, most effective health care possible."

The CMS data details how well a hospital's caregivers adhere to a list of 10 Appropriate Care Measures (ACM), which are the clinical processes of care that are known to be the most effective methods of treatment for patients who have suffered heart attacks, heart failure or pneumonia.

"It is our mission to ensure that each of our patients receives the right care at the right time and this recognition validates this," said St. Mary's President and CEO Tom Fitz, FACHE. "This honor is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our staff, who are constantly working to make excellent care even better."

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St. Mary's chef wins silver in Battle of the Hospital ChefsMark Abbott
9/25/07 – Mark Abbott, general manager of nutrition services at St. Mary's Hospital, has won the silver medal in the first nationwide Battle of the Hospital Chefs, held Sept. 25, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Abbott was one of three finalists in the competition, which was created to demonstrate that hospital food today tastes better and is more nutritious than in years past. From a field of more than 200 chefs nationwide, the finalists were chosen based on creative menus that are heart-healthy, great-tasting and easily created in a hospital kitchen for under $4.95 per plate.

"It's a real honor and a lot of fun to be selected as a finalist for this contest," Abbott said. "We like to give our patients and customers variety. We like to look at healthy options and fresh flavors for them."

At St. Mary's, patients order meals from a menu that includes choices such as oven roasted turkey, oriental stir fry, ziti with a choice of sauces, pizza, sandwiches, salads, vegetarian options, children's favorites, side items such as steamed vegetables, as well as desserts and a special of the day.

Also, patients choose when they will get their meals: they simply call St. Mary's food service number anytime between 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and room service delivers their meal in about 45 minutes. Gourmet selections such as steak and lobster and guest meals are available.

Abbott's winning menu was grilled honey lime grouper and shrimp with watermelon salsa; Mediterranean green bean melange with caramelized balsamic onions; garden risotto Italia; and cranberry summer-fresh mint tea.

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St. Mary's one of nation's first certified heart failure centers
4/9/07 – St. Mary's Health Care System has become one of the first 25 hospitals in the nation to be certified as a center for the care and treatment of Heart Failure.

The Heart Failure Program at St. Mary's recently was awarded the Gold Seal of Approval™ for health care quality by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation's leading organization for the accreditation of health care providers.

To earn this distinction, St. Mary's heart failure disease management program underwent an extensive on-site evaluation by a Joint Commission surveyor. This evaluation will be repeated every two years. The program is evaluated against Joint Commission standards through an assessment of a program's processes, the program's ability to evaluate and improve care within its own organization, and interviews with patients and staff.

"This certification means St. Mary's does the right things and does them well for heart failure patients," says Jean E. Range, M.S., R.N., C.P.H.Q., executive director, Disease-Specific Care Certification, Joint Commission.

"St. Mary's voluntarily pursued this comprehensive, independent evaluation to enhance the safety and quality of care we provide," says Tom Fitz, St. Mary's President and CEO "We're proud to achieve this distinction, which demonstrates to our cardiology patients that the quality of care we offer meets or exceeds national standards for excellence."

St. Mary's continuum of heart failure care features:

  • a new Cardiac Cath/Electrophysiology Lab for the implantation of resynchronization devices and pacemakers and the treatment of irregular heart rhythms called arrhythmias
  • Two cardiac-related physician practices – Athens Cardiac Arrhythmia Center and Oconee Heart and Vascular Center
  • Coumadin Clinic
  • Home Health Care/Hospice Services, and
  • Cardiac Rehab Phase 3

In addition, St. Mary's helps patients address the causes of heart failure through diabetes education, nutritional consultations and fitness programs at its Wellness Center.

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Hospice Nurse Steinborn named a Georgia Hospital HeroMike Steinborn
3/29/07 – Mike Steinborn, RN, RRT, a nurse with St. Mary's Hospice Services, has been named by the Georgia Hospital Association as one of 10 Georgia Hospital Heroes for 2006. Mike joins St. Mary's ICU nurse Margie Nicolaus as a recipient of this award; Margie was named a Georgia Hospital Hero in 2005, the award's inaugural year.

Mike was honored for his selflessness and heroism in saving the life of a man experiencing ventricular fibrillation while on a flight from Dallas to Atlanta in April 2006.

"As a faith-based system, we believe things happen for a reason," said Karen Joyce, RN, Director of Home Health Care/Hospice Services. "Mike was the right person in the right place at the right time to help this man and his family. A less experienced responder might not have been able to cope with such a stressful and prolonged crisis. Mike's skill, compassion, professionalism, self-sacrifice, and coolness under pressure demonstrate that he is, truly, one of Georgia's Hospital Heroes!"

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St. Mary's named a "TopCARE Hospital"Group
3/14/07 – The Georgia Hospital Association has named St. Mary’s Hospital as one of 19 "Top CARE Hospitals" in the state.

After assessing three years' worth of data provided by 96 participating hospitals, GHA found St. Mary's to be in the top 25 percent of Georgia hospitals in six key healthcare measures: patient safety, mortality rate, readmission rate, length of stay, cost, and core quality measures for heart failure, heart attack and pneumonia.

"This study was undertaken to identify Georgia hospitals who exemplify the art of quality in healthcare delivery," GHA states, adding that the award recognizes hospitals that "have consistently shown high performance in healthcare processes, outcomes and patient safety."

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Neuroscience Center of Excellence2006 Neroscience Center of Excellence
12/11/06 – St. Mary's Health Care System has been designated as a Neuroscience Center of Excellence in the 2006 Neuroscience Center of Excellence Survey, co-sponsored by NeuroSource Inc., of Chicago and HealthTech of San Francisco.

The designation indicates that St. Mary's is among the nation's top neuroscience programs, NeuroSource and HealthTech report.

The 2006 survey, the only one of its kind in the neurosciences, analyzed 150 neuroscience programs across 41 states. Only 42 of the programs evaluated achieved sufficient scores to be recognized as a 2006 Neuroscience Center of Excellence. In Georgia, only St. Mary's and the Medical College of Georgia Health System achieved this recognition.

"St. Mary's voluntarily pursued this comprehensive, independent evaluation to enhance the safety and quality of care we provide," says Tom Fitz, St. Mary’s President and CEO "We're proud to achieve this distinction, which demonstrates to our cardiology patients that the quality of care we offer meets or exceeds national standards for excellence."

A hospital's overall performance is determined by measuring program progress in four key areas: clinical and research programs, staff, facilities and technology, and business.


"The survey findings underscore the importance of St. Mary's multi-specialty approach to care," says Kimberly Walpert, M.D., Medical Director of Neurosciences at St. Mary's.

"The system's diagnostic and surgical capabilities are excellent, but what really sets it apart is its continuum of care," Dr. Walpert says. "Neuro patients are able to move seamlessly from surgery to critical care to rehabilitation to home health care."

Among the services St. Mary's offers are powerful diagnostics and emergency care, including the latest clot-busting drugs; a Neuroscience Critical Care Unit and general neuroscience nursing unit; the region's only inpatient rehabilitation center; outpatient physical, occupational and speech-language therapy, and home health care/hospice services.

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Center for Rehab Medicine awarded CARF accreditationCARF
12/22/06 – The Center for Rehabilitative Medicine at St. Mary's Hospital has been awarded a 3-year accreditation by CARF, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. This is the first time St. Mary's CRM, which was founded in 2003, has sought and been awarded accreditation.

CARF accreditation represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to a rehabilitation organization, CARF states, and shows St. Mary's conforms to the highest national standards for service and quality.

CARF also awarded St. Mary's CRM accreditation as a stroke specialty program.

"An organization receiving a 3-year accreditation outcome has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable," CARF says.

St. Mary's Center for Rehabilitative Medicine combines inpatient nursing care with intensive physical, occupational and speech-language therapy. CRM services are available for many patients recovering from a wide variety of conditions, including stroke, hip and knee replacement, multiple sclerosis, and brain and spinal cord injuries. The 20-bed unit, located within St. Mary's Hospital, includes a rehab gym, dining room and an activity room where patients can learn how to perform the normal activities of daily living.

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2006 Large Hospital of the YearSt. Mary’s named ‘2006 Large Hospital of the Year’
October 2006 – St. Mary’s Health Care System was named “Hospital of the Year” at the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals’ annual meeting Oct. 12 at Callaway Gardens. The hospital won the honor in the large hospital category, which includes hospitals with 150 beds or more.

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.”

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St. Mary’s rated best in state in hospital quality index
PHA September 2006 – With a perfect Hospital Quality Index score of 100, St. Mary's Health Care System has received the highest rating for overall quality of any hospital in Georgia for patients treated in 2005.

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.

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St. Mary’s secures continued accreditation
April 2006 -- The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has officially awarded St. Mary’s with accreditation with full standards compliance, the highest level of accreditation possible.

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.

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Home Health Care Services achieves 100 percent in overall quality
March 2006 -- St. Mary’s Home Health Care Services has received perfect 100 percent ratings in overall quality for three quarters in a row.

“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.
Scoring 100 percent ratings in three consecutive quarters reflects success in this patient-focused shift, Joyce says.

“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.

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St. Mary’s nurse named Hospital Hero by GHA
October 2005 -- St. Mary’s ICU nurse Margie Nicolaus, RN, has been named one of Georgia’s Hospital Heroes in the first-ever Georgia Hospital Association Hospital Heroes competition.

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.”

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Family Birth Center staff honored by ADVANCE for Nurses
March 2005 -- The nursing staff of the Family Birth Center at St. Mary’s Health Care System was awarded the 2005 Best Nursing Team Award for Promoting Staff Education in the ADVANCE for Nurses annual Best Nursing Team contest.

“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.

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St. Mary’s honored in Hospital of the Year contest
December 2004 -- St. Mary’s Health Care System has been named first runner-up in the 2004 “Hospital of the Year” awards, large hospital division, by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals. Southeast Georgia Health System in Albany won the top honor in the large hospital category (151 beds or more).

St. Mary’s received the award for its numerous contributions over the past year, such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ certification of St. Mary’s as North Georgia’s first stroke center, including a new neuroscience critical care unit.

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 Health Care System is a shining example of some of the great works community hospitals are doing in their communities,” said Alliance President Monty M. Veazey. “The accomplishments of St. Mary’s are tremendous, as is the dedication its employees, physicians and foundation have for excellence and vision. The hospital, and everyone associated with it, is well-deserving of this recognition.”

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St. Mary’s certified as one of nation’s first 20 Stroke Centers
October 2004 – St. Mary’s Health Care System has been certified as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. St. Mary’s becomes the first certified stroke center in North Georgia.

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.

St. Mary’s was one of the first 20 hospitals in the United States and only the second hospital in the state of Georgia to be accredited by JCAHO as a Primary Stroke Center. Georgia’s only other Primary Stroke Center is St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System in Savannah.

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.