ALMH honored for performance excellence
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[DEC.
29, 2003]
URBANA
-- The Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence has awarded
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital and the six other affiliates of
Memorial Health System a 2003 Bronze Award for Commitment to
Excellence. Kathleen Vipond, ALMH director of professional services,
and Dolan Dalpoas, director of quality management, were on hand to
receive the award at the foundation's ninth annual recognition
ceremony in Naperville on Dec. 2. |
The
Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence is a not-for-profit
organization that assists Illinois organizations striving for
performance excellence through the planning and implementation of
sound management processes. Each year a select Lincoln Board of
Examiners reviews and assesses award applications, and a panel of
judges determines which applicants have earned recognition. A bronze
award signifies that an organization demonstrates an earnest effort
to adopt and apply continuous improvement principles.
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Eleven
Illinois organizations, including manufacturers, cities and many
schools, received recognition from the Lincoln Foundation for
Performance Excellence in 2003. Memorial Health System and St.
Mary's Good Samaritan in Centralia and Mount Vernon are the only two
health care organizations in the state honored by the Lincoln
Foundation this year. Since the program was established in 1995,
only a handful of hospitals and health care organizations have
received recognition from the Lincoln Foundation.
"ALMH
and the Memorial Health System is honored to receive this award,"
said Woody Hester, the president and chief executive officer of ALMH.
"This recognition is a direct tribute to our staff, the physicians
who deliver patient care and our volunteers for the exceptional work
that has been done toward quality, safety and clinical
effectiveness."
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"This
award," Hester continued, "recognizes that the Memorial Health
System has a firm foundation in quality and safety upon which we can
build in the future."
In
addition to Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, the Memorial Health
System includes Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, St. Vincent
Memorial Hospital in Taylorville, Visiting Nurse Association of
Central Illinois, Memorial HomeCare, HealthCare Network Associates
(Family Medical Center in Lincoln) and Mental Health Centers of
Central Illinois (Logan-Mason Mental Health).
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Dolan Dalpoas, ALMH's director of
quality management, said the award reflects Memorial's vision to be
the leading central Illinois health care system and employer,
academically affiliated, which people choose over all others.
"To achieve our vision demands high
standards," Dalpoas said. "Our ability to achieve standards that
demand excellence in performance is represented in our 2003 Lincoln
Bronze Award for Performance Excellence."
Dalpoas referred to various
achievements on the local and system level that reflect the level of
performance and process improvements required of the award. They
include the following:
--Consistently assessing heart attack
patients and administering lifesaving clot-buster drugs in less than
30 minutes from arrival at the emergency room.
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--Reducing waits and delays for
emergency department patients at ALMH.
--Preventing medication errors by
employing the patient and their family as partners through the "It's
OK to Ask" campaign.
--Implementing an electronic medical
record at ALMH and Memorial Medical Center to improve patient safety
and quality of care.
--Recruiting and retaining the highest
caliber of health care professionals who combine their skills,
knowledge and experience with dedication to Memorial Health System's
mission, vision and values.
"We know we are proceeding in the right
direction as we work throughout the health system to improve our
patient care processes," Dalpoas said. "Now we also have the benefit
of the wisdom and perspective provided by the Lincoln Foundation for
Performance Excellence. This will be invaluable as we build on our
already strong foundation for patient safety, clinical effectiveness
and quality of care."
Abraham
Lincoln Memorial Hospital is a critical access hospital serving 17
communities in Logan and eastern Mason counties. For more
information about ALMH and the Memorial Health System, visit
www.almh.org.
[ALMH
news release]
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