Spectrum Health Reed City Hospital Honored With Four Quality Improvement Awards

November 15, 2011

MCRH Honors Outstanding Performance in Patient Safety

Spectrum Health Reed City Hospital was recently honored by Michigan Center for Rural Health (MCRH) who presented the hospital with four quality improvement awards for outstanding performance in patient safety.

Previously known as the Governor’s Award of Excellence, these 2011 Michigan Rural Health Quality Improvement Awards marked the sixth year that Spectrum Health Reed City Hospital has been recognized for improving the quality and safety of patient care.

The hospital was recognized for its inpatient, outpatient and emergency department clinical performance as well as receiving the first ever Patient Safety Award. The four awards are as follows:

1. Quality Improvement Award of Excellence for Inpatient Clinical Performance in the care and treatment of heart failure and pneumonia;

2. Quality Improvement Award of Excellence for the Outpatient Clinical Performance in the care and treatment of chest pain and acute myocardial infarction;

3. Outpatient Customer Service Award Achievement for Emergency Department Transfer Performance for improving care related to emergency department transfers; and

4. Michigan Center for Rural Health 2011 Quality Improvement Award for Outstanding Performance in Patient Safety, recognizing the initiative that best exemplified effective applications and efforts designed to improve patient care delivered within Critical Access Hospitals.

This is the first year the Michigan Center for Rural Health has offered the Patient Safety Award. Spectrum Health Reed City Hospital implemented innovative ideas and achieved measurable outcomes in patient safety by streamlining emergency department post-discharge surveillance, thus reducing re-hospitalizations. “Together our staff has demonstrated we are providing the very best in medical care,” states Lisa Pope, BSN, MSN, infection control coordinator. Spectrum Health Reed City Hospital has worked hard to improve the collaboration between emergency department nursing and infection prevention. This has led to earlier identification of positive cultures and has significantly improved treatment time.

In all categories, hospitals self-nominate for the awards, and must choose to conduct initiatives in selected clinical areas. These pre-selected clinical areas are designated as national health care priorities by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“Spectrum Health Reed City Hospital’s multidisciplinary team embraced evidence-based medicine in order to review their current processes and create interventions that improved outcomes” said Barb Cote, quality director. “We are extremely proud of our ongoing work to constantly improve patient safety.”

The Michigan Center for Rural Health (MCRH) is a non-profit organization formed in 1991 as part of a nation-wide, federal and state initiative to recognize the importance of rural health care and to create a mechanism for resources to flow to rural areas.

Spectrum Health Reed City Hospital is a 25 bed acute care hospital located in Reed City, Michigan that has adopted the Planetree approach to care giving. A model of patient centered care in a healing environment, staff is committed to improving medical care from the patient’s perspective, empowering patients and families through education, information and encouraging healing partnerships with caregivers. Spectrum Health Reed City Hospital offers 24 hour emergency care, inpatient and outpatient services including lab and diagnostic imaging, a regional cancer treatment center, three primary care locations and an Eden Care award winning 54 bed rehab and nursing facility.