PAMF and SMSC were honored for their commitment to equitable, inclusive care for LGBT patients and their families who can face significant challenges in receiving good health care. According to the HEI 2014 survey, 56 percent of LGB patients and 70 percent of transgender or gender non-conforming patients surveyed have experienced some type of discrimination in the health care setting.

This year more than 1,500 health care organizations nationwide were rated in the survey. PAMF, SMSC and CPMC met all of HEI’s key criteria for LGBT patient-centered care to be honored as Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality. The criteria include providing non-discrimination policies for LGBT patients and employees, a guarantee of equal visiting rights for same-sex partners and parents and LGBT health education for staff members.

“This recognition reflects our mission to provide top-quality care for our LGBT patients and their families,” says Stephen Gray, chief administration officer of SMSC. “We understand that it makes a big difference for our LGBT patients to know that they are coming to a welcoming environment and will receive the same excellent health care as all of our patients.”

Gray adds that HEI’s criteria are an important first step for all health care organizations.

“At PAMF, SMSC, CPMC and throughout our Sutter Health network we are taking steps to reach beyond the criteria by providing ongoing expert training and education for all of our care teams,” says Gray. “In addition, we are actively working with Epic, our electronic medical record system vendor, to bring gender-specific language in the system up to the current LGBT best practice standards, as we know this is extremely important to our transgender community.”

For more information about the HEI 2014 or to download a free copy of the report, visit the Human Rights Campaign website.

The Joint Commission recognized accredited hospitals that attained and sustained excellence in accountability measure performance during 2010. This recognition program is designed to be an incentive for better performance on accountability measures and to support organizations in their quest to do better.

Out of the 3,099 hospitals submitting accountability measure data to The Joint Commission, Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center was among 405 hospitals recognized for 2010. This places the Santa Cruz-based surgical center in the top 14 percent of Joint Commission accredited hospitals.

Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center met two 95-percent thresholds for surgical care:

• Performance of 95 percent or above on a single, composite score that includes all the accountability measures for which the medical facility reports data to The Joint Commission (excluding measures with fewer than 30 eligible cases or patients).
• Met a 95 percent performance threshold for every accountability measure for which Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center reported data (excluding measures with fewer than 30 eligible cases or patients).

“We are very pleased for all our employees and medical staff to receive this extraordinary recognition. It is an affirmation of our constant focus on providing high-quality, safe, patient and family centered care,” said Ric Nichols, administrator of the Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center.

As a top-performing hospital, Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center will be recognized in The Joint Commission’s “Improving America’s Hospitals” annual report, special issues of Perspectives and Benchmark, as well as the Commission’s Quality Check website (www.qualitycheck.org).

“I had the rare opportunity to be one of the first physicians to perform procedures at SMSC when they opened in 1996,” said Geoffrey Bernstein, M.D., SMSC Chief of Staff. “Now as Chief of Staff I am especially proud that we received this award, thanks to the diligent teamwork of physicians, staff, and management.”

The Palo Alto Medical Foundation is proud to announce that Press Ganey Associates, Inc. has named two of its groups 2009 Summit Award winners: Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center (SMSC) in Santa Cruz and Menlo Park Surgical Hospital (MPSH).

MPSH and SMSC are just two of the nation’s 74 organizations to receive this prestigious honor in 2009, and two of only four hospitals in California to receive the award.

Press Ganey currently partners with more than 10,000 health care facilities—including over 40 percent of U.S. hospitals—to measure and improve the quality of their care. The company’s databases are the largest in the industry, and allow facilities nationwide to benchmark their results against peer organizations. The Summit Award recognizes top performing facilities that sustain the highest level of customer satisfaction for three or more consecutive years. The Press Ganey Summit Award is the health care satisfaction industry’s most coveted symbol of achievement bestowed annually.

According to Jacci Sterling, SMSC’s assistant administrator, chief nursing officer and perinatal director, the award was as much a result of SMSC’s culture as its specific policies and practices.

“We know that employee satisfaction goes hand in hand with patient satisfaction,” Sterling said. “And we have a very satisfied staff as shown in annual staff surveys. We truly believe that patient satisfaction must be an institutional goal that is modeled from top management down and included as a performance expectation for the staff.”

MPSH provides an alternative to the traditional surgical experience. MPSH is a 16-bed acute care surgical facility in the heart of the Peninsula, south of San Francisco. The surgical hospital accommodates both inpatient and outpatient procedures, while meeting the needs of both patients and their loved ones.

“Menlo Park Surgical Hospital’s patient- and family-centered care model provides the basis for our outstanding patient satisfaction scores. At all levels of the hospital, our caring and dedicated staff know and support the concept that patient safety and satisfaction are their highest priorities,” said MPSH’s CEO Kathi Palange.

Both hospitals are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

Press Ganey Associates, Inc. named Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center (SMSC) the 2009 Summit Award winner. Press Ganey currently partners with more than 10,000 health care facilities, including over 40 percent of U.S. hospitals, to measure and improve the quality of their care. The company’s databases are the largest in the industry, and allow facilities nationwide to benchmark their results against peer organizations.

The Summit Award recognizes top performing facilities that sustain the highest level of customer satisfaction for three or more consecutive years. The Press Ganey Summit Award is the health care satisfaction industry’s most coveted symbol of achievement bestowed annually. SMSC is just one of the nation’s 74 organizations to receive this prestigious honor in 2009. SMSC is one of only three hospitals in California to receive the award.

According to Jacci Sterling, SMSC’s assistant administrator, chief nursing officer and perinatal director, the award was as much a result of SMSC’s culture as its specific policies and practices. New hires and all staff are coached in Patient- and Family-Centered Care principles that teach the importance of the patient’s perception of quality and care and gives them the tools to handle conflicts. Staff satisfaction drives patient satisfaction and SMSC’s excellence in this area is evidenced by their recent ranking as 20th in Modern Healthcare magazine’s “Best Places to Work in Healthcare.”

“We know that employee satisfaction goes hand in hand with patient satisfaction,”Sterling said. “We have a very satisfied staff as shown in annual staff surveys. We truly believe that patient satisfaction must be an institutional goal that is modeled from top management down and included as a performance expectation for the staff.”

SMSC also maintains some environmental choices to promote healing and caring, including:

• No overhead paging, except for codes

• 24-hour room service for all patient meals; no food tray lines

• “Guest Services” employees are members of the Patient-Centered Health Care Team who welcome patients, clean rooms and deliver meals