Arbor Health Morton Hospital One of 13 Recognized by Washington State Hospital Association
Jul. 7—The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) recently recognized 13 hospitals statewide for participating in its Critical Access Hospital Achievement of Quality Excellence program, including Arbor Health's hospital in Morton, according to a WSHA news release.
Arbor Health Morton Hospital received the award just one week after its new CEO, Robert Mach, took over operations.
"On receiving the award on behalf of the quality team, Mach said that the occasion further confirmed what he had already determined on accepting the position, that the Arbor Health team took its patient care seriously and strives to give patients the very best care possible," the release stated.
For delivering outstanding care to their communities, all the hospitals were honored at the WSHA's Rural Hospital Leadership Conference in Chelan at the end of June.
All participating hospitals were given quality improvement projects and had to submit data showing progress in 14 measures including antibiotic stewardship, reducing diagnostic errors, addressing social determinants of health and preventing patient falls.
"WSHA's Critical Access Hospital Achievement of Quality Excellence Program offers a new way to recognize our smallest and most rural hospitals for their work ensuring outstanding care to their communities," WSHA Senior Vice President of Safety and Quality Darcy Jaffe said in the release. "There are so many elements that constitute quality care, requiring lots of meaningful collaboration and communication at the bedside as well as larger review of trends to identify areas for improvement. These hospitals have shown that they are up for the task."
Aside from Arbor Health in Morton, the other hospitals recognized included:
Astria Sunnyside Hospital in Sunnyside
Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata
East Adams Rural Healthcare in Ritzville
Lincoln Hospital in Davenport
Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco
North Valley Hospital in Tonasket
Ocean Beach Hospital in Ilwaco
Providence Mount Carmel Hospital in Colville
Providence St. Joseph's Hospital in Chewelah
St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw
Summit Pacific Medical Center in Elma
Willapa Harbor Hospital in South Bend
Participating hospitals regularly submit data while participating in quality improvement initiatives, but this was the first year WSHA offered a special recognition program to honor hospital staff for their hard work and participation in the initiatives.
A hospital is identified as a critical access hospital if it has 25 or fewer beds, is located more than 35 miles from another hospital and maintains an average length of stay of 96 hours or less for acute care patients while still providing around the clock emergency care.
The WSHA advocates and supports more than 100 hospitals and medical clinics across the state. For more information, visit https://www.wsha.org/.
