Local caregiver, hospitals honored by MHA
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News from the Montana Hospital Association
HELENA — The Montana Hospital Association is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Montana Healthcare Awards.
The Montana Healthcare Awards program is the largest and most representative award program recognizing excellence among Montana’s hospital and healthcare field. Awards recognize healthcare professionals who have offered dedicated service to their communities and organizations that have implemented successful, innovative programs to advance patient care. Local winners of the 2021 Montana Healthcare Awards are:
Caregiver of the Year Award: Marion Cooper, Director, Providence St. Joseph Assisted Living (Polson). As Director of Providence St. Joseph Assisted Living, Marion Cooper’s pre-emptive actions resulted in not only zero COVID-19 deaths but zero COVID-19 infections within the assisted living facility for 18 months. In addition, Marion spent the year finding creative ways to ensure residents were safe, supported and able to maintain social bonds.
Best Place to Work: Small Hospital: St. Luke Community Healthcare, Ronan.
Leadership in Quality and Patient Safety: Providence St. Joseph Medical Center (Polson) for its multi-disciplinary infection prevention plan which resulted in five years and 5 months without a case of hospital-onset C. difficile infection, the single most common pathogen responsible for healthcare-associated infections in the United States.
Quality Program of the Year (awarded by the Montana Flex/Performance Improvement Program): St. Luke Community Healthcare, Ronan. This award recognizes excellence in performance and quality improvement among Montana’s smallest rural hospitals, also known as Critical Access Hospitals.
Other winners in Western Montana were:
Trustee of the Year Award: Dr. William Bekemeyer, Providence Montana Community Mission Board of Directors (Missoula). Dr. Bekemeyer has served his community more than 30 years as an internal medicine, critical and pulmonary medicine physician, including more than 20 years of leadership positions at St. Patrick Hospital and the Providence Montana health system.
Innovation in Healthcare Award: Logan Health – Whitefish, for its Shared Leadership Model. The Shared Leadership model is a nurse-driven project that empowers nursing staff to manage and express their practice with the highest level of professional autonomy. The project is credited with increased job satisfaction that resulted in the hospital’s retention rate of 99.8% for 2020.
“Every day, healthcare heroes give their time, talents and hard work to help heal their neighbors. At the same time, Montana hospitals are working around the clock to keep the lights on for our communities. It’s our honor to take a moment to showcase the individuals and organizations who are leading the way to make Montana stronger and healthier,” said Rich Rasmussen, Montana Hospital Association CEO.
