Sacred Heart About Us Quality and Safety Awards and Recognition 2016 Annual Report
Sacred Heart_2016 Annual Report sub-page_smiling doctor talking to patient

2016 Awards & Annual Reports

Below are a list of Awards and Annual Report that HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital received in 2016.


Gold Plus Recognition

 

HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines -Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success ensuring that stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally accepted, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
To receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures.

“With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and this award demonstrates our commitment to ensuring patients receive care based on nationally-accepted clinical guidelines,” said Jeannie Pittenger, RN, MSN, CNRN, stroke program coordinator at Sacred Heart Hospital. “From onset of symptoms to rehabilitation and prevention of subsequent stroke, we are committed to providing the highest level of stroke care to people in the region.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the number five cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every four minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

Greenhealth Partner for Change Award 

 

HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals were awarded the “Greenhealth Partner for Change” Awards by Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading health care community dedicated to transforming health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becomes a community anchor for sustainability and a leader in the global movement for environmental health and justice. The awards honor outstanding environmental achievements in the health care sector.
The Greenhealth Partner for Change Award recognizes health care facilities that continuously improve and expand upon their mercury elimination, waste reduction, recycling and source reduction programs. At a minimum, facilities applying for this award must be recycling 15 percent of their total waste, have reduced regulated medical waste, are well along the way to mercury elimination, and have developed other successful pollution prevention programs in many different areas.
“Our HSHS western Wisconsin division is committed to improving the health of our patients, staff and community as a whole,” said Julie Manas, president and CEO, HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital. “We take pride in our sustainability efforts to lessen our impact on the environment.”
“Our Hospital Sisters have a Franciscan tradition of caring for the environment,” said Joan Coffman, president and CEO, HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital. “It continues to be our responsibility today so we can preserve health and wellbeing for generations to come.”

Blue Distinction

 

In an effort to help prospective parents find hospitals that deliver quality maternity care, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced that HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and sister hospital HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls have been designated as two of the first hospitals to receive the Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation, a new designation under the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.

Nearly four million babies are born in the U.S. annually, making childbirth the most common cause of hospitalization. The new Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program evaluates hospitals on several quality measures, including the percentage of newborns that fall into the category of early elective delivery, which is an ongoing concern in the medical community.

Hospitals that receive a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation agree to meet requirements that align with principles that support evidence-based practices of care, as well as having initiated programs to promote successful breastfeeding, as described in the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative by Baby-Friendly USA through its “Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care.”
Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care, an expansion of the national Blue Distinction Specialty Care program, are hospitals recognized for delivering quality specialty care safely and effectively, based on objective measures developed with input from the medical community.

“I speak for both of our hospitals when I say that we are honored to receive this designation,” said Julie Manas, CEO of HSHS Western Wisconsin Division – which includes Sacred Heart Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital. “Our maternity programs work hard to coordinate birth plans with the wishes of the mother and family combined with best practice care and evidence-based medicine. It’s a privilege to be a part of helping to bring new lives into the world.” 


Advocacy All-Star Award

 

Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) received the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) 2016 Advocacy All-Star Award at the Association’s annual Advocacy Day in Madison March 30.

Therese Pandl, HSHS Eastern Wisconsin Division CEO, and Julie Manas, HSHS Western Wisconsin Division CEO, accepted the award before more than 1,000 hospital supporters participating in the day’s activities. The award is presented to one hospital or health care system each year that exemplifies dedication to grassroots advocacy.

Manas and Pandl said they were honored to accept the award on behalf of the entire system that includes six hospitals in Wisconsin: HSHS Sacred Heart (Eau Claire); HSHS St. Joseph’s (Chippewa Falls); HSHS St. Mary’s (Green Bay); HSHS St. Vincent (Green Bay); HSHS St. Nicholas (Sheboygan); and, HSHS St. Clare (Oconto Falls).

“Advocacy is central to our mission,” according to Pandl. “Every day we advocate for policies that will enable us to continue to provide high-quality, accessible health care to the people living in our communities. We are very proud to receive this award as we continue to make our voices heard in Madison and Washington DC.”

Over the past year, the hospital’s advocates have regularly contacted, hosted and met with their elected officials to discuss important health care issues, including advocating for improvements in Wisconsin’s Medicaid program. They have worked to educate elected officials on how public policy impacts area hospitals, communities and patients. They have even traveled to Washington, DC multiple times with WHA to make certain Wisconsin’s Members of Congress understand how federal issues impact local hospitals and communities.


CARF accreditation

 

HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital has recently earned renewed accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) for a period of three years for the hospital’s comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation program and comprehensive stroke specialty program. This means that both programs continue to meet the highest industry standards possible – ensuring risk reduction, accountability and the best possible patient outcomes.

Sacred Heart Hospital has maintained CARF accreditation for its inpatient rehabilitation program since 1980, and for its comprehensive stroke specialty program since 2010. Sacred Heart Hospital has the only CARF-accredited acute inpatient rehabilitation and comprehensive stroke specialty programs in western Wisconsin. The hospital has been providing medical rehabilitation services to the Chippewa Valley since 1973.

Quality Respiratory Care

 

HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital has earned Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) under a national program aimed at helping patients and families make informed decisions about the quality of the respiratory care services available in hospitals.

Approximately 15% of hospitals in the United States have received this award. This year marks the thirteenth consecutive year that Sacred Heart Hospital has earned this national recognition.
“This is a testament to the great quality and care we expect and deliver at Sacred Heart Hospital,” said Nancy DeMars, director of cardiopulmonary services at Sacred Heart Hospital. “We are fortunate to have some of the most dedicated and skilled respiratory therapists in the state practicing at our organization and we are appreciative of their efforts.”