Vim & Vigor - Summer 2018 - Parrish Medical Center - 3

OPENING THOUGHTS

PARRISH: 'HEALING
IN ALL RESPECTS'
Hospital inspectors applaud our continuous pursuit of quality care

When experts trained to find
problems in hospitals told us
that Parrish Medical Center is
"healing in all aspects," it's a
reason to celebrate. And it's also another
reason why it matters which hospital
you choose.
To be precise, Parrish Medical Center
(PMC) care partners wowed on-site
reaccreditation reviewers from The Joint
Commission, America's premier hospital
accrediting organization. The reviewers
examined PMC for compliance on quality
of care and patient safety standards, as
they do for thousands of hospitals across
the nation with unannounced visits at
least once every 36 months.
A first step is to gather hospital leaders
and ask how they would describe their hospital and how they think they're doing with
regard to standards compliance. When
George Mikitarian, PMC's president and
CEO, and I said that PMC is a healing hospital and that care partners know, understand and live the hospital's mission, vision
and values, reviewers told us later that they
felt like rolling their eyes, that they've heard
that before. Then they fanned out across
PMC, looking for problems.
Here's how The Joint Commission
describes its process: "Surveyors are
highly trained experts who are doctors,
nurses, hospital administrators, laboratory
medical technologists and other healthcare professionals. As surveyors trace
a patient's experience in a healthcare

organization, they talk to the doctors,
nurses and other staff who interact with
the patient. Surveyors also observe doctors and nurses providing care, and often
speak to the patients themselves."
At the end of their three-day evaluation,
reviewers again met with hospital leadership. Here were some of their reactions:
3 All on-site reviewers from The Joint
Commission agreed that PMC was one of
the highest-performing hospitals they had
ever surveyed.
3 One said she had doubts when George
and I described PMC's healing culture, but
that "PMC is healing in all respects."
3 A reviewer with 25 years of experience
told us that PMC's infection-control risk
assessment is the best he'd ever seen.
3They said PMC's healing culture is
evident throughout all components of
the hospital.
At the final meeting, reviewers said they
didn't need to ask PMC leadership questions about hospital strategy, objectives
and process improvement, because care
partners had answered them.
The reviewers said everything they could
have asked PMC leadership, our employees
answered. They said it's something they
don't normally see when they survey.
That's another example of why it matters which hospital you choose.

All on-site
reviewers
from The Joint
Commission
agreed that
PMC was one
of the highestperforming
hospitals they had
ever surveyed.

Sincerely,
Herman A. Cole Jr., Col., USAF, Ret.
Chairman of the Board

SUMME R 2018

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