IRVING, Texas, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- VHA Inc. will honor eight health care organizations this year with VHA Leadership Awards for their efforts to improve clinical effectiveness, operational performance, supply chain management and community health. The awards honor both individual hospitals and multi-facility systems.
The awards will be presented during the 21st annual VHA Leadership Conference in San Diego on April 27.
"These health care organizations have demonstrated superb leadership in providing better care for their communities," said Curt Nonomaque, president and chief executive officer of VHA. "Their outstanding work exemplifies VHA's mission to improve America's health care system."
The winning organizations are: Category: Clinical Effectiveness -- honors clinical cost and quality initiatives Hospital Division: Centra Health Inc., Lynchburg, Va. -- A collaborative team improved patient management in the hospital's emergency department and cardiac catheterization lab. Streamlined processes resulted in achievement of the 90-minute national gold standard device activation time 77 percent of the time, compared to the national benchmark of 32 percent. Median door-to-device activation time was reduced to 64 minutes, compared to a national median of 103 minutes, ranking Centra Health at the 100th percentile nationally for like-size hospitals. Centra Health also opened an Acute MI center, rapidly transporting patients from outlying hospitals for immediate cardiac catheterization. System Division: Deaconess Billings Clinic, Billings, Mont. -- Deaconess Billings implemented a program to screen high-risk patients and administer influenza and pneumococcal vaccines to these patients in order to reduce their risk of acquiring these vaccine-preventable diseases. The system reached patients across care delivery locations, including an acute-care hospital, multi-specialty physician clinic, primary care clinics and long-term care facility. The project improved patient care; enhanced community health; reduced costs through better vaccination tracking, billing and communications processes; and improved patient satisfaction due to implementation of Saturday Flu Clinics. Category: Community Health Improvement -- honors community outreach with an emphasis on partnerships, outcomes and sustainability Hospital Division: Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Greenville, N.C. -- Over an eight-year period, the hospital has steadfastly committed itself to its mission of improving the health status of all people in its region through health service delivery, education and research. Pitt County's successful community health improvement initiatives have focused around collaborative partnerships with the public school system, health department, emergency medical service and law enforcement, and other community groups. Programs include two initiatives to address the health issues of healthy and frail senior citizens, as well as a medical assistance program. System Division: Sutter Health, Sacramento, Calif. -- With a strong belief that community health improvement efforts start at the top, Sutter invested $466 million -- 10 percent of net patient revenues -- in community benefit initiatives in 2002, capping a seven-year period in which $2 billion was devoted to community health. The system works to identify community needs and implement programs based on those needs, such as the Regional Children's Health Project and the Great Beginnings Clinic, which addressed the need for increased prenatal care for uninsured women. Category: Improving Operational Performance and Service -- honors service improvements and achievements in cost reduction Hospital Division: Danbury (Conn.) Hospital -- Through a strong focus on systemically improving and sustaining safety performance, including implementation of Six Sigma quality process improvement, Danbury achieved a major reduction in OSHA reportable safety cases and lost workdays, and created a more safety-conscious environment. Results of the safety initiative included a 26 percent reduction in needle sticks, 9 percent decrease in sharps injuries, 31 percent reduction in lost work-time cases and 15 percent decrease in OSHA reportable incidents among its work force. System Division: Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans -- Faced with challenges including the merger and subsequent integration of three institutions, the system redesigned its leadership operating systems to improve execution of strategic priorities. This included development of a reliable and valid management review process. Through improving the leadership- strategy-execution connection, Ochsner experienced significant gains in employee leader satisfaction, as well as improvements in key operational areas such as R.N. vacancy rate, market share and percentage of leaders engaged in development. Category: Improving Supply Chain Management -- honors initiatives to reduce supply expenses and/or process improvement in the supply area Hospital Division: St. Cloud (Minn.) Hospital, CentraCare Health System -- Challenged with significant Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement shortfalls, the hospital implemented a supply standardization and utilization initiative. With support from the entire staff and physicians, St. Cloud surpassed all project financial goals, saving $7 million in supply costs and $840,000 through improved clinical utilization. Documentation revenue increased $750,000. Additionally, patient and staff satisfaction reached an all-time high. System Division: Hartford (Conn.) Health Care Corp. -- Hartford's goal was to convert to a single information system for finance and materials management from the two previously used in order to reduce costs, establish a better management process and reduce redundant processing. Project teams reengineered the supply process in the successful conversion. More than $62,000 in annual savings was realized through reduction in software maintenance, and salary expense was reduced by $73,000. Automated replenishment allowed clinical staff to focus on patient care, and customer and patient satisfaction increased in both the purchasing and storeroom departments. About VHA
VHA Inc. is a national cooperative of leading not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to improve the health of the communities they serve. VHA leverages the collective strength of the membership to improve clinical, operational and financial performance. Through the VHA cooperative, members benefit from resources that assess critical needs and identify best practices to create customized solutions that lower costs and improve clinical quality. As a cooperative, VHA distributes income annually to members based on their participation. Based in Irving, Texas, with 18 offices across the U.S., VHA was named one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" by Fortune in January 2004, for the fifth year in a row. For more information, go to http://www.vha.com/ .
PR CONTACTS: Jeanine Nistler Tom Urtz CentraCare Health System Centra Health Inc. Phone: 320-251-2700, ext. 54194 Phone: 434-947-4730 E-mail: nistlerj@centracare.com E-mail: tom.urtz@centrahealth.com Linda Wiseman Brooke Buchanan Danbury Hospital Deaconess Billings Clinic Phone: 203-797-7462 Phone: 406-657-4673 E-mail: linda.wiseman@danhosp.org E-mail: bbuchanan1@billingsclinic.org Lee Monroe Robin DeGeneres Hartford Health Care Corp. Ochsner Clinic Foundation Phone: 860-545-1010 Phone: 504-842-6453 E-mail: lmonroe@harthosp.org E-mail: rdegeneres@ochsner.org Doug Boyd Karen Garner Pitt County Memorial Hospital Sutter Health Phone: 252-744-2482 Phone: 916-286-8297 E-mail: boydd@mail.ecu.edu E-mail: garnerk@sutterhealth.org Contact: Andy Wilson 972-830-0047 awilson@vha.com
Photo: Newscom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20011017/VHALOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comVHA Inc.CONTACT: Andy Wilson of VHA Inc., +1-972-830-0047, or awilson@vha.com ;or Jeanine Nistler of CentraCare Health System, +1-320-251-2700, ext. 54194,or nistlerj@centracare.com ; or Tom Urtz of Centra Health Inc.,+1-434-947-4730, or tom.urtz@centrahealth.com ; or Linda Wiseman of DanburyHospital, +1-203-797-7462, or linda.wiseman@danhosp.org ; or Brooke Buchananof Deaconess Billings Clinic, +1-406-657-4673, orbbuchanan1@billingsclinic.org ; or Lee Monroe of Hartford Health Care Corp.,+1-860-545-1010, or lmonroe@harthosp.org ; or Robin DeGeneres of OchsnerClinic Foundation, +1-504-842-6453, or rdegeneres@ochsner.org ; or Doug Boydof Pitt County Memorial Hospital, +1-252-744-2482, or boydd@mail.ecu.edu ; orKaren Garner of Sutter Health, +1-916-286-8297, or garnerk@sutterhealth.org
Web site: http://www.vha.com/
