AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Recognizned Among the Nation's Elite

was recognized as a finalist for this year's American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize at the AHA/Health Forum Leadership Summit in San Diego on Sunday.

Five hospitals were considered for the prize. As one of two finalists, AtlantiCare will receive $12,500 to invest in its quality initiatives.

Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, FL, won the prize, and AtlantiCare and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago were the finalists. Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, CA, and Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle were both recognized with Citations of Merit.

Hospitals were selected by the Quest for Quality Prize Committee of health care quality and safety experts based on their culture of quality and efforts to reach the Institute of Medicine's six quality aims for health care.

The committee recognized AtlantiCare's ARMC’s  “…dedication to building trusting relationships with employees and patients by providing care that reflects the diversity of the patients it serves.”

“The American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize  Committee was very impressed with AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s work in safety and effectiveness and its strong senior leadership,” said Gail Lovinger Goldblatt, vice president, Association Governance and director, AHA-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize.  “It viewed AtlantiCare’s pervasive culture of safety and prompt and thorough feedback on safety reports as noteworthy strengths. In addition, the committee believed that the  AtlantiCare Special Care Center provided an excellent model for managing chronic, high-cost conditions. It was impressed with ARMC’s focus on diversity, sophisticated leadership development programming, and succession planning.”

“We focus on what has a significant impact on enhancing the quality of care we provide and our community’s access to that care,” said Joan Brennan, DNP, vice president Quality and Performance Excellence, AtlantiCare, who joined representatives of Memorial Regional Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in sharing best practices during a panel discussion about the theme of the summit – Delivering Greater Value. “We hold ourselves accountable by setting goals and targets and benchmarking ourselves against best practices.”