St. Luke receives national recognition for quality improvement
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Shane Roberts, St. Luke CEO, and Kitty Strowbridge, quality improvement coordinator at St. Luke discuss the national recognition St. Luke Hospital recently received for a leadership role in pursuing improvement of patient safety and quality of care for more than 10 years.
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RONAN — As changes in the nationwide health care system continue at an unprecedented rate, measuring the improvement of the quality of that care becomes a major focal point.
To that end, the National Rural Health Resource Center has initiated a public recognition program of critical access hospitals across the United States for hospitals that demonstrate excellence and innovation in the area of quality.
In 2012, the Montana Health Research and Education Foundation nominated St. Luke Community Hospital in Ronan for recognition of its leadership role in pursuing the improvement of patient safety and quality of care for more than 10 years. As a result of the nomination, St. Luke has received honorable mention, among critical access hospital across the nation, for demonstrating excellence and innovation in quality. With the award, St. Luke becomes the only critical access hospital in the state of Montana to receive the distinction in 2013.
“This award reflects the commitment of our nearly 400 employees to delivering excellent, quality care across the board from our environmental staff, to nurses, to our primary care providers,” says Shane Roberts, CEO at the Ronan hospital. “Everyone can and should be proud of the recognition.”
St. Luke has actively participated in every clinical improvement study that the MHREF has offered since 2005.
“As a result of their participation and leadership, St. Luke has made and sustained measurable improvement in clinical care related to emergency department transfers, heart conditions and heart failure, pneumonia, stroke, patient safety, pediatric trauma care, reducing infection rates, and in achieving the Sepsis International Campaign Six-hour Resuscitation Goals,” according to Carol Bischoff, flex director of MHREF.
She goes on to say that St. Luke is leading Montana critical access hospitals in participating in the national Partnership for Patients Project by working with the MHA-Hospital Engagement Network. She adds, “St. Luke continues to lead the pack in Montana in excellence, the culture of safety and continuous improvement, collaboration with national, state and local healthcare organizations, and in sharing learning and insights with their peers.”
In addition to praising the entire staff for the award, Roberts gives special credit to Kitty Strowbridge. As the quality improvement coordinator at the community-owned hospital, part of her job is to assist in efforts to continually improve the quality of care for St. Luke patients.
