WSHA celebrated Lake Chelan Health’s achievements and commitment to excellence this month with the Rural Quality Every Day Extraordinary Award. The accolade, given at WSHA’s Rural Hospital Leadership Conference, highlights the efforts of rural health care institutions to enhance care quality and operational excellence. Lake Chelan Health was recognized for its innovative Aggregate Quality score program, which evaluates comprehensive care and business operations.
The pioneering initiative gauges organization-wide quality through multiple lenses, including patient satisfaction, contract management, performance, policy adherence and the ability to uphold high standards. It also offers insights into staff challenges and bolsters engagement, driving continuous hospital improvement.
Lake Chelan Health was among seven nominations from across Washington: Kittitas Valley Health for its 4th Trimester Resource center, EvergreenHealth Monroe for reducing blood culture contamination, Providence Mount Carmel for reducing catheter utilization, Ocean Beach Hospital for its fall prevention program, and WhidbeyHealth for reducing surgical site infections. The projects were rated across five key metrics, including significance, data-driven approach, culture of safety, results and scalability.
We also recognized 13 hospitals through the Critical Access Hospital Achievement of Quality Excellence program. These hospitals submitted data on quality improvement measures like sepsis management, workplace violence prevention, diagnostic excellence and health disparities.
The honored hospitals in 2024 were:
- Arbor Health (Morton, Wash.)
- Columbia Basin Hospital (Ephrata, Wash.)
- Forks Community Hospital (Forks, Wash.)
- Jefferson Healthcare (Port Townsend, Wash.)
- Lourdes Medical Center (Pasco, Wash.)
- Newport Hospital & Health Services (Newport, Wash.)
- North Valley Hospital (Tonasket, Wash.)
- Ocean Beach Hospital & Medical Clinics (Ilwaco, Wash.)
- Providence Mount Carmel Hospital (Colville, Wash.)
- Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital (Chewelah, Wash.)
- Elizabeth Hospital (Enumclaw, Wash.)
- Summit Pacific Medical Center (Elma, Wash.)
- Willapa Harbor Hospital (South Bend, Wash.)
Congratulations to each hospital for delivering high-quality health care across Washington. They should be proud of their work and dedication to improving patient safety.
Looking ahead, if you have an exceptional quality improvement project, applications for the Rural Quality Every Day award are open year-round. Projects should address a significant problem, employ a data-driven approach, consider safety culture in solutions and explain results. All rural WSHA member hospitals and health systems are invited to participate.
Sincerely,
Darcy Jaffe
WSHA Senior VP of Clinical Excellence
