The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Hospital among top 100 in the country
Saline hospital stands out in patient safety and ER service
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 19, 2007
About 17,000 people seek treatment at St. Joseph Mercy Saline Hospital's emergency room each year, the majority of them Saline and Milan residents.
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Now when they pass through the community hospital's doors, they will be entering one of the nation's top 100 hospitals, according to Solucient, a leading provider of information for the healthcare industry.
"It's a big deal," said Kathleen Rhine, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital vice president for administration services.
"It really speaks to the dedication of the doctors and the staff that we have one of the top ERs in the country," said Executive Director Barbara Fielder.
The Solucient 100 Top Hospitals study identifies hospitals that are the highest performers in the state according to a range of criteria, including mortality, complications, patient safety, length of stay, expenses per discharge, profitability and growth in patient volume.
The Saline hospital was one of 16 Michigan hospitals to make the prestigious list and one of three in the category of Small Community Hospitals.
St. Joseph Mercy Saline Hospital distinguished itself in two specific measures. The hospital ranked in the 90th percentile in the treatment of pneumonia and was 22.14 percent above the benchmark median of other small community hospitals in patient safety.
"We strive all the time," said Fielder. "We've been getting excellent customer satisfaction numbers for many years."
It's the first time the Saline hospital has received the award.
"It is difficult to win this award even once and should be a point of pride in the hospital and the community," according to Solucient.
Being named one of the country's top 100 hospitals was not a goal of the administrators and staff, according to Fielder. Rather, the honor was a byproduct of a constant focus on improvement.
"You do this one patient at a time with a very dedicated and caring staff," said Rhine.
Aside from some ads and posters proclaiming Solucient's recognition, hospital administrators are in the early stages of deciding how to respond.
They will likely put a banner across the front of the hospital and are thinking about renting a billboard. There is also some thought about organizing a celebration this summer.
"We're just starting to think about how to celebrate this," said Rhine.
Founded in 1959, the community hospital merged with St. Joseph Mercy Health System in 1991. The partnering brought together the intimacy of a small hospital with the state-of-the-art technology and wider knowledge base of a larger organization. The 82-bed hospital now boasts 100 active physicians, 280 physicians with privileges, an expanded nuclear medicine suite, an expanded clinical laboratory, and more than 200 volunteers.
Rhine said she believes the close-knit, community culture of the Saline hospital has remained unchanged after the merge.
"In a real sense health care is local," she said. "It's important to stay in touch with the community."
When ill, people appreciate a hospital in which they feel comfortable and cared after, such as the environment a smaller hospital can offer, but they also want access to expert specialists and the latest medical technology, according to Rhine.
Administrators believe St. Joseph Mercy Saline Hospital offers Milan and Saline residents both.
"The community has a gem in both worlds," said Rhine.
The Solucient award will be presented May 8 at a reception in Las Vegas.
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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