Adventist Medical Center recently won a 2004 CAPE Award from the California Council for Excellence (CCE). The CAPE Award recognizes companies, government agencies, educational institutions, health-care facilities and non-profit organizations that have complied with the Malcolm Baldrige Award criteria and completed a thorough review of the evaluation of their application. The Portland, Oregon-based hospital was a bronze-level award winner, recognized for its performance in several areas—including leadership, customer satisfaction, process improvement and business results. While the facility is not based in California, it applied for the award and was granted consideration because it is part of Adventist Health, which is headquartered in Roseville, Calif.
Walla Walla General Hospital has acquired Blue Mountain Home Health from Dayton General Hospital. The two southeastern Washington facilities, which are within a 30-mile radius of each other, have been working together since early 2004 to ensure a smooth transition. Blue Mountain Home Health has served the Columbia County area since the 1980s and is a Medicare-certified home-health agency. Since the acquisition, Walla Walla’s Home-Care Services have already experienced a 10 percent increase in business volume.
Tillamook County General Hospital’s radiology department has been able to serve more patients since the hospital installed a new permanent scanner. The new equipment, which became available to area residents in 2004, has increased the hospital’s MRI business by 25 percent. In addition, the hospital has increased its MRI service to five days a week.
Walla Walla General Hospital is now home to a new GE Lightspeed 16-slice CT Scanner. The new equipment provides patients and physicians with exceptional image quality, shorter scan times, lower radiation and more accurate diagnoses. The scanner also has software that makes emergency scans much faster, which will enable doctors to take more immediate action when necessary.
In late 2004, Adventist Medical Center was presented with the Oregon Hospital Quality Award from OMPRO, a health-care quality improvement organization. The award, which was presented at the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems annual conference, recognizes performance improvement in one of four clinical areas. Adventist Medical Center—one of six winning hospitals—was specifically recognized for its work on acute myocardial infarction. To qualify for an award, health-care facilities were required to provide a description of the performance improvement actions they implemented and data demonstrating notable progress in the targeted area.
Tillamook County General Hospital was recognized by PRC, a national physician satisfaction rating corporation, as a 2004 Medical Staff Satisfaction Award winner. The hospital received 5-Star Customer Service Awards for: overall quality of patient care, emergency room services, radiology services and for a place to practice medicine.
Executives from Adventist Medical Center (AMC) are presented with a CAPE Award in Riverside, Calif. From left: Rob Grasso, 2004 CAPE chairman; Deryl Jones, AMC president and CEO; Sheila Strand, AMC quality resources director; Tom Russell, AMC senior vice president; Robert Goitein, AMC quality resources assistant director; and Denise Shields, 2005 CAPE chairwoman.
