Best of the Best

Newton Hospital earns a place among the best in the country in preventive care, By Carol Dunbar NEWTON - An Intensive Care Unit of a hospital is where the most rigorous care is offered to those patients in most need, but unfortunately, because of their vulnerability to complications, it’s also a fertile ground for the spread of infection. Not so at Newton Memorial Hospital. The unit is being recognized by VHA, Inc., a national health care alliance of organizations across the nation, with the 2006 Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence by achieving national performance standards in two categories. Newton Memorial has maintained for at least a continuous six-month time period during 2005 a record of zero cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia and zero blood stream infections over that same time period. This is such a remarkable achievement that Newton is one of only 26 hospitals of the 2,400 member organizations to be recognized for excellence in critical care and one of only five institutions in the nation recognized in two separate categories. The award was presented to hospital CEO Tom Senker, at a national leadership conference in St. Louis, Mo., and presented to the ICU staff at a reception last week at the hospital. “We needed to set the standards very high,” said Nancy English, the hospital’s director of Critical Care and Practice Enhancement Projects. “We are moving into a new phase of the project, and we are looking at the best possible care. When you hear the media, they usually talk about mistakes, (but) VHA took on this project in order for us to prevent complications and reduce the patient’s length of stay.” “What this hospital has done in terms of its accomplishments requires hard work and striving for clinical excellence on a day-to-day basis,” said Chairman of the Board Chris Lynch. “It isn’t easy to keep that level going staying at the top.” Senker recounted how far the hospital has come over the years to be counted with some of the very best facilities throughout the country, including the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and the Scripps Clinic in California. He termed the staff’s accomplishment “phenomenal” in sustaining such a high level of excellence from the cleanliness of the unit, to keeping the department supplied, to the preparedness of the medical staff. Doctor Rakesh Garg stressed the significance of consistency in the care of patients and the importance in prevention of complications. Quoting an article in a medical journal, he said, “With early intervention, there is 37 percent less mortality.” He continued, “We are making progress, and hopefully we’re making things better for the patient.” English, who accepted on behalf of the entire unit, said, “We were doing a good job, but now we’re doing an even better job.”