HSHS St. Joseph’s – Highland recognized for quality care

By ROBERTA CODEMO
    HSHS St. Joseph’s – Highland is proud to be recognized for its dedication and commitment to quality patient care. In 2016,  the hospital was honored to receive three awards for its commitment to quality.  
    “This showcases and recognizes the hospital’s dedication to its mission to provide Christ’s healing love to all patients,” said Melissa Cates, the interim chief nursing officer and quality-risk director.
    This is the second year in a row that the hospital has been recognized for its commitment to patient safety and quality with a Quality Excellence Achievement Award in the Rural/Critical Access Hospital category from the Illinois Health and Hospital Association’s Institute for Innovations in Care and Quality.
    Out of 99 hospitals, St. Joseph’s Hospital ranked No. 1. The hospital was recognized for its quality improvement project, “Saving Lives by Immediate Identification and Treatment of Sepsis.” Early next year, all entries and project summaries will be published in the 2016 Quality Excellence Achievement Awards compendium.
    Sepsis is the third-leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer and time is critical for keeping patients alive.
    “There are a lot of moving parts to a sepsis diagnosis,” said Cates, who recognizes the staff for their wonderful achievement. In 2016, the hospital achieved a 100 percent compliance rate. Staff members were recognized this September during Sepsis Awareness Month.
    This year the hospital was also named one of the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals for Practices in Quality based on a composite rating from nine indices of strength by the National Rural Health Association. The hospital scored best among critical access hospitals on iVantage Health Analytics’ Hospital Strength Index for Practices in Quality. There are 1,332 critical access hospitals in the country; critical access hospitals serve patients in rural areas that would otherwise not have access to care.
    Press Ganey recently awarded St. Joseph’s Hospital the 2016 Guardian of Excellence Award. The award recognizes top-performing health-care organizations that consistently achieve the 95th percentile or above of performance in clinical quality and is a nationally-recognized symbol of achievement in health care.
    St. Joseph’s Hospital continues to believe in meeting the needs of the patient and holds staff members accountable for providing quality care, Cates said. This is reflected in the community, where visitors and patients can see the great care that the hospital provides and the recognition it shows its staff.
    “It affirms the good work that we do.” said Cates.