Hospital Receives Multiple Awards
Kerrville, TX – Peterson Health is proud to announce continued top honors and recognition at Peterson Regional Medical Center (PRMC) for safety and cleanliness. National honors continue to prove Peterson Health’s high level of commitment to ensure a safe and clean environment as a regular daily practice.
Safety
PRMC was named a 2020 America’s Best Hospital for Patient Safety by the Women’s Choice Awards. PRMC ranks in the top 5% out of 4,814 hospitals for Patient Safety.
Additionally, for the most recent reporting period, PRMC earned an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade from the Leapfrog Group recognizing the hospital’s efforts in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. The 2020 grade will be announced in May.
Cleanliness
For the period of March 1st through April 26th, at the peak of COVID-19, PRMC was in the top percentile nationally for cleanliness based on nationally attested patient satisfaction survey results as required by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for all hospitals in the United States. Patients are randomly selected to rate the hospital on ten (10) key factors. One key indicator is “How often was the area around my room kept clean?” In March, over 90% of patients said “Always.” This rating placed PRMC in the 98% percentile, compared to 2,779 hospitals. PRMC has ranked in the top 15% nationally in the area of cleanliness for the past two years.
In addition, for the third consecutive year, PRMC received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award and is among the top 5% in the nation for patient experience. The award is based on ten key measures, and one of the key indicators is cleanliness.
There is a heighted awareness and concern from the public about accessing medical facilities, which includes the hospitals and doctors’ offices. The concern stems from a variety of issues, but one is the fear of catching COVID-19 from these facilities. Since COVID-19 hit our community, Peterson Health has experienced first-hand numerous cancellations in regular medical appointments, ER visits, and outpatient rehabilitation therapy. Missing your appointments or refusing to go to the ER could be critical in many situations and the missed therapies and wellness visits could lead to more severe or complicated conditions if not kept. Peterson Health wants to ensure the public that the standards of cleanliness and quality remains at the highest level at all times.
“We realize many people worry about the spread of germs, chance of infection, and have a heightened concern about their safety, especially during a pandemic,” states Cory Edmondson, President and CEO of Peterson Health. “We want to assure the public that our hospital far exceeds other hospitals, not just in the region, but in the state and nation, when it comes to cleanliness and safety. We take extraordinary pride in our level of commitment to patient safety and the protocols we put in place. These measures have been in place for years, well before COVID-19, and we strive daily to maintain a safe and clean environment at PRMC, no matter the situation.”
As side note, but relating to patient and employee safety, PRMC’s Emergency Department has been selected as a national finalist in a music video contest sponsored by the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). As part of the 2020 Annual Conference, the organization encouraged hospital departments across the nation to create a music video that encouraged or addressed infection prevention.
Three Peterson Health departments participated. (Emergency Department (ED), Intensive Care Unit, Acute Rehabilitation Unit) The ED’s video “Soap and Scrub” is one of 12 finalists for the People’s Choice Award. The video can be viewed at APIC’s website: https://ac2020.site.apic.org/film-festival/. Voting is open to the public at this site through June 13th.
Shares Lisa Winters, Director of Marketing and Communication, “This is just another example of the continuous efforts our hospital and employees put forth to raise awareness on the importance of proper hand hygiene or daily safety precautions in their personal and professional lives. We worked on this project back in September of 2019, well before COVID-19, but it’s completely relevant now, more than ever, and we encourage everyone to vote for this great video.”
