OAHHS Fall/Winter 2018

23 Fall/Winter 2018 Providence Health & Services  PROVIDENCE HOOD RIVER WINS AWARD FOR PATIENT SATISFACTION When it comes to patient satisfaction at Oregon’s rural hospitals, Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital tops the list. That’s according to the Oregon Office of Rural Health, which recently recognized Providence Hood River as the top performing critical access hospital in the state for patient satisfaction scores. The “Top Performer” award recognizes evaluations that are consistently higher than state and national averages for patient satisfaction measures. Providence Hood River is a critical access hospital (CAH), meaning it has fewer than 25 acute care inpatient beds and is located more than 35 miles away from another hospital. A CAH must provide around the clock emergency services and maintain an average annual length of stay of 96 hours or less for acute care patients. The CAH designation comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is intended to preserve rural hospitals by creating special rules that apply only to them. Stacie Rothwell, field services program manager for the Oregon Office of Rural Health, congratulated caregivers at Providence Hood River saying its scores “demonstrate strong results in the area of patient satisfaction and they should be proud of their team.” “Patient satisfaction is our number one priority,” said Karyn Temte Lloyd, quality improvement officer for Providence Hood River. “In addition to recently completing rigorous training to become a ‘High Reliability Organization,’ our caregivers strive to provide the best care possible with each patient encounter. It shows in our patient comments and ratings.” Besides patient surveys, the hospital and other Providence facilities receive regular visits from various agencies that monitor compliance. The Joint Commission is the largest hospital certification organization in the United States, evaluating facilities every two years. In its latest visit to Providence Hood River in late July, 2018, evaluators ranked the hospital among the top performing CAH facilities, with dozens of best practices to share with other facilities. Also, Providence Hood River was just named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s “66 critical access hospitals to know” list. Becker’s considers community impact, innovation, and ratings from Medicare and other organizations for the listing. “I am delighted to see the team’s efforts recognized and congratulate Karyn Temte Lloyd for her quality- focused leadership,” said Jeanie Vieira, Providence Hood River’s chief executive. We appreciate the efforts of the Oregon Office of Rural Health and its focus on helping us meet the needs of patients, now and in the future.” The Top Performer recognition from the Oregon Office of Rural Health includes a $5,000 award to be used for an innovative quality improvement project at the hospital. H