Paradise Camp Fire Closes Hospital for 10 Days
A summer blaze—dubbed the Camp Fire—forced the evacuation and closure of Feather River Hospital in Paradise, Calif., in early July. The fire grazed 53,000 acres of Butte County, and came within 400 yards of the hospital. Ten firefighter strike teams with 50 engines guarded the facility, which opened again July 18 after 10 days. Before the hospital could open its doors, however, the entire facility was sanitized—from floor to ceiling—and all medical equipment was inspected, recalibrated and recertified.
Additionally, $400,000 in pharmaceuticals was replaced due to the lack of temperature control during the evacuation. After the clean up—and thanks to volunteers from throughout Adventist Health—surveyors from the California Department of Public Health and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development cleared the facility after a four-hour inspection.
"It was a long 10 days," says Wayne Ferch, FRH president and CEO, who along with several employees, worked round the clock in the Incident Command Center. "We're thrilled to be open and back at work caring for our patients."
For more details about the crisis, or to see photographs, please visit: www.frhosp.org.
Portland Hospital Receives Five Stars
Adventist Medical Center received a national five-star community value rating for the second consecutive year. The Community Value Index® Five-Star Hospital Award is a national recognition that denotes a commitment to meeting the health care needs of the community in a financially responsible manner. The national evaluation, conducted by Cleverly Associates, assesses three key areas: financial viability and plant reinvestment, cost structure and charge structure. The hospital won the five-star rating because it ranked in the top 20 percent of more than 3,000 hospitals included in the study.
Excellent Quality in the Walla Walla Valley
Walla Walla General Hospital received an award of excellence in health care quality from Qualis Health at the Northwest Patient Safety Conference in Seattle. Qualis Health, a private nonprofit organization, serves as the quality improvement organization for Medicare in Washington. The Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality recognizes organizations that make significant contributions to health care through innovative, measurable improvements in care. WWGH staff and physicians have focused continued efforts to improve the hospital's core measures, also known as the National Hospital Quality Measures. These measures represent evidence-based best practices, and WWGH now consistently attains near perfect compliance in each area (acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care). Compliance rates in 29 of the 30 measures monitored have reached 100 percent. The 30th measure is at 99 percent.
Ira Poritzky, chef, baked thank you cakes for the firefighters who protected FRH.
Wildfires closed the Feather River Hospital near Paradise, California, for 10 days in July.
Ten strike teams guarded FRH with 50 fire engines.
Hospital plant services personnel confer with CEO and incident commander, Wayne Ferch (with back to camera). The team worked hard to clear defensible space around the hospital, which included removing trees and bushes, and spraying the facility with fire retardant.
