Hospital Earns Two Patient Safety Excellence Awards

Douglas County Hospital has earned two Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) Patient Safety Excellence Awards for its work on preventing patients from falling during hospital stays, and for its work on preventing adverse surgical events.

Patient safety is a top priority for Douglas County Hospital. The hospital has joined the SAFE from FALLS, and the SAFE SITE initiative, where Minnesota teams are working collectively on implementing an extensive list of recommended actions to prevent patients from falling, and preventing wrong-site surgeries and other surgical events. The MHA Patient Safety Excellence Award is given to facilities who have achieved more than 90 percent of the actions recommended in the roadmap. "The roadmap combines learning from reported events in Minnesota and national best practices to preventing patients from falling, and for preventing adverse surgical events, and helping patient safety initiatives succeed" says Bruce Rueben, president of the MHA. "It is an extremely detailed list. That Douglas County Hospital was able to implement more than 90 percent of roadmap steps is outstanding." For more information about the SAFE from FALLS or the SAFE SITE campaign, visit the Minnesota Hospital Association web site at: www.mnhospitals.org/index/patient1.

Falls Prevention Update:

The Falls Team began this campaign in May, 2007. Many steps and processes have been implemented to address falls prevention and reporting. In reviewing falls which have occurred at DCH over the past 2 quarters of 2008, the fall rate has decreased by nearly 50%. The entire staff at DCH needs to be commended for their efforts and vigilant work to prevent falls and provide patient safety! We all can make a difference.