Merle West Medical Center recently received three prestigious national awards for its distinguished performance in a variety of areas.
The community medical center is among this year’s Health Imaging & IT magazine’s “Top 15 Connected Healthcare Facilities” in the nation. It also was honored as being in the top 20 percent of more than 3,500 hospitals nationwide in the Cleverly and Associates “community value” rankings, and the hospital’s Emergency Department received one of three “Compass Awards” from the Press Ganey company for patient satisfaction improvement.
Health Imaging & IT magazine editors chose the Klamath Falls medical center for a “Top 15” award based on its extensive use of digital diagnostic imaging and communications systems.
“This year’s 15 winners -- ranging from a specialty heart hospital to large academic medical centers and smaller community hospitals -- share common goals of investing in digital imaging devices and a determination to link decision-makers and caregivers,” the magazine editors said in the awards issue.
The annual “Top 15 Connected Healthcare Facilities” award recognizes healthcare facilities in the United States “that embrace digital imaging and information systems that facilitate better workflow and patient care, and reduce overall costs.”
“Our use of digital technology helps patients and care providers alike by making many imaging procedures faster,” said Paul Stewart, Merle West Medical Center president and chief executive officer. “When any patient is in pain, minutes matter.
“We’re grateful that our efforts and investments have been recognized at the national level.” Others in the Top 15 included Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals, Boston; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles; and Nebraska Heart Hospital at Lincoln.
Merle West Medical Center’s efforts to be a responsible steward of resources are recognized in the Cleverly and Associates “community value” rankings.
The medical center’s five-star designation is “a good overall measure of a hospital’s financial strength and performance in regard to investments in the facility, costs and charges,” said David Meek of Cleverly and Associates. “The (index) shows that a hospital provides value to the community when it is financially viable, is appropriately reinvesting back into the facility, maintains a low cost structure, and has reasonable charges.”
CEO Stewart said the designation illustrates a philosophy of trying to be a good corporate citizen. “We want to be sensitive to the needs of the people we serve, yet we must have a positive margin to continue our mission of health and to provide best equipment we can,” he said. “This designation says we consistently are able to do both and add value to our community.”
Merle West Medical Center continues to reinvest in its facilities with a 100,000-square-foot, $40 million modernization project.
Crews are now doing site preparation work on that project with structural steel work set to begin in April.
Cleverly and Associates President William Cleverly has long been recognized as a healthcare financial management leader and is author of several textbooks used in colleges nationwide.
The MWMC Emergency Department received one of three national “Compass Awards” from Press Ganey for “outstanding performance improvement in patient satisfaction” over two years.
Press Ganey is a leading satisfaction measurement company. The company currently ranks the local Emergency Department in the top 25 percent nationally among similarly sized departments in patient satisfaction.
“We are very happy that (the department) received the award, of course,” said Frank Almendarez, RN, department director, “but it really belongs to the entire medical center. It really reflects the organization’s commitment to improving our patients’ experiences.”
The satisfaction that Merle West Medical Center patients have with their care is regularly measured and monitored, and there are continual efforts to find ways to improve performance.