Lakeland, FL – Lakeland Regional Health earned a 2017 Celebration of Service Award in the over-150-bed category for Leadership in Quality and Patient Safety from the Florida Hospital Association.
“We are so honored to be recognized as one of Florida’s top hospitals in quality and safety,” said Elaine C. Thompson, PhD, FACHE, Lakeland Regional Health President and CEO. “At Lakeland Regional Health, we work diligently to provide a superior patient and family experience through continuous performance improvement and robust efforts to improve patient safety.”
Among the initiatives that earned the award for Lakeland Regional Health are:
- Gemba Board and Gemba Walks and the numerous successful initiatives resulting from these.
- Institute for Safety Discovery and Standard Work and its ongoing positive results.
- New security enhancements at our Medical Center campus.
- Leading-edge technology, which earned us Most Wired and Most Wired Advanced status four times in the last five years from the American Hospital Association.
- Commitment to environmental and human health performance, as shown by our LEED® Gold Certification at our Grasslands Campus.
To illustrate a successful Gemba team effort, a quarterly skin study indicated ICU patients occasionally developed pressure-related injuries. ICU team members expressed concern, conducted research and implemented a plan to lower the injury rate by transferring patients on vasopressure medications to low air-loss surface beds to help with circulation. This resulted in zero injuries the last 9 months.
“Our team members passionately embrace and implement these safety initiatives, helping us to exceed best practices each day as we improve the lives of those we are privileged to serve,” said Sarah Bhagat, CLSSBB, Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center Chief Operating Officer and Lakeland Regional Health Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness.
Each year, through its Celebration of Service Awards, the Florida Hospital Association recognizes leaders and teams in healthcare who contribute to the mission of providing quality care for the people of Florida.
In the last 12 months, Lakeland Regional Health has earned a number of state and national recognitions, including “150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare” and “135 Non-Profit Hospital and Health system CEOs to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review.
About Lakeland Regional Health
Not-for-profit Lakeland Regional Health reaches beyond its hospital walls to promote wellness, education and discovery in new places and new ways, providing a wide range of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services at its Medical Center, Hollis Cancer Center and ambulatory care locations. Lakeland Regional Health earned Most Wired Advanced and Most Wired status four times since 2013 from the American Hospital Association and has earned workplace awards from Forbes, Gallup and Becker’s Hospital Review. Its 849-bed comprehensive tertiary referral hospital, Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, operates a Level II Trauma Center, a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Bannasch Institute for Advanced Rehabilitation Medicine and the nation’s busiest single site Emergency Department.
About the Florida Hospital Association
The Florida Hospital Association is comprised of over 200 hospitals and health systems from across the state. Through representation and advocacy, education and informational services, we support the mission of our members to provide the highest quality of care to the patients we serve. For more information, visit www.fha.org.
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