NUMC PARTICIPATES IN DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AND ACHIEVES SECOND PLACE RANKING AMONG 30 NEW YORK STATE HOSPITALS PARTICIPATING IN SURGICAL CARE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT WITH A GOAL TO SIGNIFICANTLY SAVE LIVES BY DECREASING INCIDENCE OF SURGICAL COMPLICATIONS BY 25% BY 2010
March 10, 2009
Contact: Shelley Lotenberg
(516) 572-6055
shelley@numc.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NUMC PARTICIPATES IN DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AND ACHIEVES SECOND PLACE RANKING AMONG 30 NEW YORK STATE HOSPITALS PARTICIPATING IN SURGICAL CARE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT WITH A GOAL TO SIGNIFICANTLY SAVE LIVES BY DECREASING INCIDENCE OF SURGICAL COMPLICATIONS BY 25% BY 2010
SECOND PLACE RANKING IS EVIDENCE THAT NUMC STAFF HAVE COLLABORATELY WORKED TOGETHER TO ENSURE THAT SURGICAL IMPROVEMENT IS A PRIORITY
East Meadow, NY…..Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the Nassau Health Care Corporation proudly announced that the Nassau University Medical Center had achieved a current second place ranking among 30 New York state hospitals participating in a surgical management demonstration project, the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP).
SCIP is a national quality partnership of organizations that are committed to improving surgical care through the reduction of postoperative complications. The SCIP goal is to significantly save lives by decreasing the incidence of surgical complications by 25 percent by the year 2010.
“I am proud to announce NUMC’s current ranking of second place out of 30 participating hospitals in the SCIP, a reflection of our commitment to significantly save lives by decreasing the incidence of surgical complications. Achievement of this score is the result of our staff’s emphasis on quality of care and patient safety,” stated Gianelli.
Steven J. Walerstein, NHCC’s senior vice president for medical affairs and medical director and Maureen Shannon, vice president for quality management, commended the staff for their diligence and dedication to reducing surgical complications: “NUMC has achieved this score by strict adherence to evidence-based practice recommendations for antibiotic use, venous thrombo-embolism prevention, and the implementation of systems of care with redundant safeguards. Achievement of this score is evidence that NUMC surgeons, anesthesiologists, preoperative nurses, pharmacists, infection control professions and hospital executives have collaboratively worked together to make sure that surgical care improvement is a priority.”
The SCIP participation program examines a number of key indicators to assess the overall surgical quality of care at each participating hospital and measure and report performance in order to identify opportunities for improvement and to track progress.
Glenn Faust, MD, chair of the department of surgery at NUMC was also delighted with the results of the hospital’s participation: “Our ranking of second place out of 30 this year, demonstrates a marked improvement from a previous result last year, where we were ranked 11 out of 30, reflecting marked attention to detail in surgical disciplines, specifically at preventing surgical complications.