DATE: July 29, 2008
CONTACTS: Leah Sirrine – West Shore Medical Center – (231)398-1189
Barbara Gordon-Kessel – Munson Healthcare – (231)935-3390
West Shore’s Partner Wins National Quest for Quality Prize
For more than 10 years, West Shore Medical Center and Munson Medical Center in Traverse City have worked together to improve care for patients in Manistee County. Today, West Shore’s affiliation with Munson for tertiary care has proven to be a benefit to area residents. On Thursday, Munson Medical Center leadership accepted the 2008 American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize™.
Each year, the AHA singles out one hospital in the nation for its top quality prize. This year’s runner up was University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers.
The annual award honors organizations that have systematically committed to achieving the Institute of Medicine’s six quality aims: safety, patient-centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, and equity. It also honors hospitals that can provide replicable models and systems for others to follow.
“To best serve our patients, we need a strong affiliation with a larger medical center that can provide tertiary care, such as trauma and open heart surgery, when needed,” explained Burton Parks, President and CEO, West Shore Medical Center. “As a member of the Munson Healthcare system, access to these specialized services is streamlined.”
Munson Medical Center President and CEO Ed Ness is quick to acknowledge the role of local hospitals in maintaining quality care for patients in northern Michigan. “Quality outcomes are a regional effort in northern Michigan. Because of our rural landscape, it is important that we have strong community hospitals in our system. We work as partners to ensure patients receive the best care as close to home as possible.”
Ness points out it is important that patients choose their local hospital and physicians whenever possible. “We are extremely respectful of the care at West Shore Medical Center. Bigger does not mean better. Just because the University of Michigan Hospitals is bigger than Munson Medical Center, doesn’t mean it provides better care. It provides different types of care. The same analogy is true between Munson Medical Center and West Shore Medical Center. Care in your own community gives you access to family and other support systems that are vital to recovery.”
“We’ve been very impressed with the administrative and medical staff leadership at West Shore. We’re privileged to have them as a member of our system,” said Munson Healthcare System President and CEO Doug Deck.
As an affiliate of the Munson Healthcare System, West Shore Medical Center is participating in strategic initiatives to improve quality at all the system’s hospitals. The system-wide “Surviving Sepsis” initiative is one example. Sepsis, a severe infection, can rapidly result in critical health issues or death and has a national mortality rate higher than that for stroke.
By sharing data and protocols, physicians throughout the Munson Healthcare System are working to make their hospitals leaders in the fight against sepsis.
“West Shore has made a solid commitment to the rapid recognition and treatment of sepsis,” said Mary Margaret Wilberg, director of Performance Improvement. “Our physician champions are taking the lead in this critical process and have collaborated with their Munson colleagues on educating other clinicians.”
Trauma care is another area where West Shore Medical Center and Munson Medical Center work collaboratively to improve the quality of care.
“Munson Medical Center’s certification as the only Level II Trauma Center in northern Michigan is dependent on the care patients first receive at their local hospitals. Working together, we’ve developed a system of communication and care that is saving lives,” said Ness.