LVMC Earns Four Safety and Quality Awards

Lompoc Valley Medical Center is honored to be the recipient of four awards for its work in improving quality and patient safety.

The four awards were bestowed upon LVMC by the American Health Care Association and the Beta Healthcare Group, the largest professional liability insurer of hospitals on the West Coast. Beta’s “Quest for Zero” is a patient safety initiative.

The hospital and its services were honored by Beta for:

• Beta Heart Culture of Safety
• Quest for Zero: Emergency Department Initiative
• Quest for Zero: Excellence in Obstetrics, Tier II

Additionally, LVMC’s Comprehensive Care Center was named recipient of the American Health Care Association’s National Quality Award – Bronze Commitment to Quality.

At Beta, Tom Wander, Chief Executive Officer for Beta Healthcare Group, recognized LVMC for its “dedicated commitment to embracing a culture of transparency and safety,” particularly in the area of its two-year Culture of Safety effort.

“As we continue this journey of cultural transformation and make improvements in our empathic response to harm in healthcare, we applaud you and your team for focusing on what is most important – trust that is reinforced across all healthcare dimensions; patients, families and our valued workforce,” Wander said.

The hospital was also honored for its commitment to constant improvement, while striving to eliminate preventable harm to those in need of emergency care. LVMC’s Emergency Department met Beta’s Quest for Zero Tier 1 requirements.

“In your ninth year of participation, a significant impact is being made to the lives of those entrusted to your care,” the award citation notes. “Congratulations for making quality of care a priority.”

LVMC’s Perinatal Department has participated in the Beta safety program for 11 years. The department met the Tier II standard, which is the highest ranking and most difficult to achieve, for the past eight years in a row. To achieve that level, all Perinatal Department nurses and medical staff must complete rigorous mandated training to improve knowledge and skills.

Additionally, the department focused on drills and simulations for high-risk, low-volume situations, including postpartum hemorrhage, shoulder dystocia and newborn resuscitation.

“The OB Department at LVMC has worked very hard at achieving this award and will continue to work at meeting and exceeding the requirements annually,” said Melinda DeHoyos, Perinatal Department director.

Earning the three Beta awards enables LVMC to save $57,000 in medical malpractice premiums.

“That money can be used for other things, to reinvest back into the organization,” explained Melissa DeBacker, Chief Quality Assurance/Process Improvement Officer.

Qualifying for, and achieving, the Beta honors involved “engagement by everyone from the Board Room to the front-line staff,” DeBacker said.

Additionally, LVMC was named recipient of the American Health Care Association’s National Quality Award – Bronze Commitment to Quality. The award recognizes long-term and post-acute care centers that have demonstrated a commitment to improving quality care for seniors and persons with disabilities. LVMC’s skilled nursing and post-acute rehabilitation facility, the Comprehensive Care Center, accepted the honor at a ceremony in Florida this month.

“The Bronze Award is recognition by AHCA of your earnest efforts for the betterment of your facility and for your residents through continuous quality improvement,” noted Craig Cornett, CEO and president of the California Association of Health Facilities.