There is a quote from the famous engineer and management consultant Edward Deming above my desk that says, “It is not necessary to change.

Survival is not mandatory.”

I’ve thought about that a lot recently.

On July 1, a health care resource that has been vital to this community for nearly 200 years changed hands. For weeks prior, we told our staff that the best gift we could give to patients and families was that they didn’t notice a thing that night – we delivered on that promise. That night, consistency was our goal, we all realized the future was going to be nothing like the past. Our necessity to change, improve and grow is mandatory. It will make our community better, the health of our most vulnerable citizens better, and the U of L School of Medicine better.

Today we are going about the deliberate work of making changes that create the very best health care environment possible – it’s what we all deserve. This always has been the goal, but now is the time to bring a new focus to what that truly means.

During recent years, the reported quality scores for U of L Hospital and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center have not been where we want them. Now we own our results and we are changing.

One of the most visible actions we have taken is the hiring of over 100 registered nurses in our first 60 days of operations. This brings more caregivers directly to the bedside to ensure our patients receive the best care possible.

Additionally, we have made significant strides on other indicators such as a decrease in our mortality index and a reduction in the average length of stay. We are developing additional processes to continue this trend so that our patients are in the hospital only as long as they need to be and getting the best care possible.

 

By: Ken Marshall

Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/