Accreditation Announced
Chesapeake Health Care representatives pictured, from left, are Dr. B. Lee Jennings, chief medical officer; Christie Brittingham, QI/QA coordinator; Crystal Lambert, head of Mental Health Department; Brian Holland, chief executive officer; and Sue Gray, chief operations officer. Submitted Photo
SALISBURY — Chesapeake Health Care announced it has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Behavioral Health Care Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with the highest national standards for safety and quality of care. The Gold Seal of Approval® is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s outstanding commitment to providing safe and effective behavioral health care.
Chesapeake Health Care underwent a rigorous onsite survey on May 10 by The Joint Commission. It was evaluated on compliance with behavioral health care standards related to several areas including behavioral health care, treatment, and services; environment of care; leadership; and screening procedures for the early detection of imminent harm was evaluated. The Joint Commission also conducted onsite observations and interviews with the staff and mental health care providers.
“Chesapeake Health Care is pleased to receive Behavioral Health Care Accreditation from The Joint Commission, which is the premier health care quality improvement and accrediting body in the nation,” said CEO Brian Holland. “I’m proud of our entire staff who worked together to develop and implement approaches and strategies that improve the mental health care for those in our community. This accreditation exemplifies our commitment to continually improving our patient care to those who live on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland.”
Chesapeake Health Care was also awarded the Gold Seal of Approval® from The Joint Commission for its excellence in ambulatory care in 2016.
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Stroke Center Designation
BERLIN – Atlantic General Hospital’s Stroke Center received official designation from the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) as a Primary Stroke Center (PSC). This designation means that Atlantic General has met the requirements put forth by the American Stroke Association (ASA), MIEMSS and the Joint Commission to optimize the quality of care to stroke patients.
Treatment during the first three hours of stroke onset is critical to halt its effects on the body. Atlantic General Hospital has created a stroke team, composed of physicians and nursing staff specially trained in stroke care, and integrated the stroke protocols in its emergency department with the hospital’s diagnostic and inpatient clinical services to further streamline treatment. They are also continuing efforts to educate the community. Too often, stroke victims ignore or are unaware of the significance of their symptoms and don’t seek the care they need.
Atlantic General Hospital demonstrated significant improvements to the Stroke Center according to the MIEMSS follow-up PSC survey. These improvements assisted in the hospital’s Stroke Center re-designation.
Atlantic General Hospital received its initial designation in 2008 and has been resurveyed every five years.
“The designation of our hospital as an official stroke center emphasizes our commitment to our community’s well-being. Stroke is one the leading causes of death and disability in our country, and I am proud to say that our citizens and our many visitors can feel safe knowing that we adhere to the highest standards of care in stroke,” said Dr. Preeti Yonker, medical director of the AGH Stroke Center.
This achievement will allow Atlantic General Hospital to continue to provide effective stroke care to more than four thousand community members each year through preventive education, acute care, and rehabilitation services. “This designation allows for the most up-to-date care for our stroke patients, and helps them on their road to recovery after having a stroke. Atlantic General Hospital continues to give the most timely and effective care for the treatment of stroke with the help of this designation,” said Scott Rose, director of the AGH Stroke Center.
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Hospital Earns Awards
SALISBURY — Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) announced that it has received the Healthgrades 2018 Labor & Delivery Excellence Award. Additionally, PRMC was also named a 5-Star recipient from Healthgrades in both C-Section and Vaginal Deliveries.
The Clinical Excellence Award places PRMC in the Top 10% of all United States hospitals evaluated for the care provided to mothers during labor and delivery. The 5-star ratings indicate that Peninsula Regional’s clinical outcomes are statistically significantly better than expected for vaginal and C-section deliveries.
“This is a great honor for an outstanding, caring and compassionate Women’s and Children’s team here at Peninsula Regional,” said PRMC President/CEO Steve Leonard. “As a family-centered Medical Center, we welcome around 2,000 babies into our community each year. We are proud that this award reflects the high-quality, safe, nurturing environment we work to provide for new mothers. Our obstetrical team works with families on a full spectrum of birthing options – from low-intervention births assisted by midwives with a physician’s support, to providing complex care for high-risk pregnancies. PRMC also has a team of dedicated neonatologist and neonatal nurses that provide intensive care for babies who may require respiratory support and closer observation in our Special Care Nursery.”
To help consumers evaluate and compare hospital performance in labor and delivery, Healthgrades analyzed patient outcome data for virtually every hospital in the 15 states and the District of Columbia that provide all-payer state data for years 2014 through 2016. Healthgrades found that the variation in hospital performance makes a significant difference in terms of clinical outcomes.
From 2014 to 2016, if all hospitals included in the analysis performed similarly to those that received the Healthgrades Labor and Delivery Excellence Award, complications could have potentially been avoided for 101,543 patients.
“Consumers value high-quality outcomes when selecting hospitals, especially with delivery of a child,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Healthgrades. “Parents have many options when looking for the right providers, and the Healthgrades 2018 Labor and Delivery Excellence Award gives them important insight to find the top hospitals in their areas.”