Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales, New Mexico has earned the Hospital Innovation Improvement (HIIN) Award for two years of performance improvement evidenced by measurements of quality and patient safety. The awards were presented in a ceremony at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the New Mexico Hospital Association (NMHA) in Albuquerque.
Kaye Green, Chief Executive Officer, and Mercedes Lopez, Chief Nursing Officer, accepted the award from Andrew Shin, Chief Operating Officer of the American Hospital Association Center for Health Innovation and Jeff Bourgeois, Chair of the NMHA Quality Committee. Green stated, “Ensuring the safety of our patients and providing care of the highest quality through evidence-based practices are our top priorities at RGH. We are so honored to receive this improvement award—it confirms our dedication to serving this community in the best way we can.”
Roosevelt General Hospital (RGH) is one of fifteen New Mexico hospitals recognized for excellence during the 2016-2018 phase of HIIN, the extensive, multi-year program that aims to ensure better care for individuals and populations throughout the state. Supported by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and administered by NMHA working with the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) of the American Hospital Association (AHA); overall goals of the program are to achieve a 20% decrease in overall patient harm and a 12% reduction in readmissions from 2014 baseline numbers, by 2019.
The local hospital met or exceeded the goals in some important ways. In the past three years, RGH has zero harm events and no hospital acquired infections. In addition, adverse drug events have significantly improved which has resulted in 16 harms being prevented, two lives saved, and vast cost savings for the organization.
RGH has also signed onto the Equity of Care Pledge to eliminate healthcare disparities. Endorsed by NMHA’s Board of Directors as a step in addressing differential access and outcomes that can affect New Mexicans based on race, ethnicity, culture and other social factors, the pledge is a commitment from the Roosevelt General Hospital team to collect and use data on these factors, work with community partners and train in diversity and cultural competency.
Commitment to quality and patient safety is central to the mission of NMHA member hospitals. Programs like HIIN engage hospital leadership and clinicians at all levels to build on successes and spread best practices in education and staff training, mentorship, monitoring, data collection and analysis and governance across the state. Lopez stated, “This award and our continuous improvement efforts are possible because of the many dedicated nurses, physicians and care team members. Every hospital department and profession play a critical role in helping us implement and sustain important quality measures.”
Roosevelt General Hospital is committed to providing comprehensive patient care for residents throughout Roosevelt County, New Mexico and its surrounding areas. RGH offers a 24/7 physician-staffed emergency room, full spectrum inpatient and outpatient services, general surgery, laboratory, physical therapy and respiratory services, along with digital mammography, X-ray and MRI.
Established in 1945, the New Mexico Hospital Association represents the best interests of community hospitals on legislative, regulatory and public policy issues and works with members and others to improve the health status of the citizens of New Mexico. The proud membership of NMHA includes New Mexico facilities licensed to provide acute inpatient, specialty or general patient care and health systems and other qualified health care institutions.
