Two CHS Hospitals Earn Highest Honors From HANYS

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y., June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Catholic Health Services’s (CHS) St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center and St. Joseph hospitals were named by the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) as winners of the 2017 HANYS Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety. At a recent ceremony held in Lake George, HANYS presented CHS leadership with the awards. St. Joseph Hospital was recognized for successfully addressing alarm fatigue, which resulted in a significant improvement in patient room quietness, while St. Catherine’s winning initiative enabled the hospital to exceed state and national performance levels in administering plasminogen activator (tPA) to stroke patients.

“St. Catherine and St. Joseph’s achievements reflect a high level of professionalism and intense dedication to patient safety,” said Executive Vice President and System Chief Medical Officer Patrick M. O’Shaughnessy, DO. “Through the implementation of systematic performance improvement strategies, the teams at both CHS hospitals have significantly raised the bar.”

St. Catherine’s project, “Improving Patient Outcomes Through Collaboration With Emergency Medical Services to Enhance Quality of Pre-Hospital Communication,” resulted in all 2016 ischemic stroke patients receiving tPA within 60 minutes of Emergency Department (ED) arrival and 89% of all stroke patients being assessed by the ED physician within 15 minutes. Additionally, pre-hospital communication increased to 74%, exceeding national and state performance levels.

St. Joseph’s “Reducing Rule-Based Error: Implementation of PDSA and Its Impact on Alarm Fatigue” resulted in a 39% reduction in non-critical clinical alarms per patient day (exceeding its original goal), a decrease of more than 9% in transfers to a higher level of care and a 26% improvement in HCAHPS Quietness of Room at Night.

Both hospitals were chosen from among 86 statewide nominations. Winners were selected in four categories: three for acute care based on bed count and one for post-acute/outpatient providers.

Catholic Health Services (CHS) is an integrated system encompassing some of the region’s finest health and human services agencies. With 17,500 employees, 6 acute care hospitals, 3 nursing homes, a home nursing service, hospice, a community-based agency for persons with special needs and a regional lab, CHS’s high standards have resulted in a 23% market share.