CHELAN — Jefferson Healthcare and Forks Community Hospital have earned Critical Access Hospital Achievement of Excellence distinction.
The hospitals were recognized during the state hospital association’s Rural Hospital Leadership Conference in Chelan.
“The Achievement of Quality Excellence program elevates the work of our most rural hospitals as they deliver high-quality care close to home,” said Darcy Jaffe, the association’s senior vice president of safety and quality. “Their outstanding commitment to improvement is a testament to their leadership in patient care.”
The achievement of excellence distinctions recognize a hospital’s strong commitment to patient care based on 14 data quality measures, including sepsis management, workplace safety, diagnostic accuracy and efforts to reduce health disparities.
Critical access hospitals are those with 25 or fewer beds located more than 35 miles from another hospital. They also maintain an average length of stay of 96 hours or less for acute care patients and provide 24-hour emergency care services.
Jefferson Healthcare was one of 14 critical access hospitals across the state to earn the distinction at the gold level, which demonstrates performance over a 24-month period.
Other gold level hospitals were Arbor Health in Morton, Astria Sunnyside Hospital, Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata, Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee, Kittitas Valley Healthcare in Ellensburg, Newport Hospital and Health Services, North Valley Hospital in Tonasket, Ocean Beach Hospital and Medical Clinics in Ilwaco, Providence Mount Carmel Hospital in Colville, Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chewelah, St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw, Summit Pacific Medical Center in Elma and Willapa Harbor Hospital in South Bend.
Forks Community Hospital was one of six hospitals to earn the distinction at the silver level for demonstrating performance over a 12-month period.
Other silver level hospitals were Cascade Medical Center in Leavenworth, Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco, Quincy Valley Medical Center, Snoqualmie Valley Hospital and Whitman Hospital & Medical Clinics in Colfax.
Olympic Medical Center is has too many inpatient beds to be classified as a critical access hospital. There are 39 critical access hospitals statewide.
For more information, visit www.wsha.org.
