The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

#Patient safety

White Plains Hospital Ranks Among the Top 5% Nationally for Safety

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White Plains Hospital announced today that it has been awarded the Patient Safety Excellence Award™ and Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ from Healthgrades. The Hospital is one of only two in New York and 79 across the nation to receive top honors in both categories. With these awards, White Plains Hospital ranks among the top 5% in the nation for patient safety and among the top 15% for patient experience.

Healthgrades analyzed more than 4,500 institutions, with safety honors given to those who scored highly in 13 quality measures determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Patient experience scores were based on patients’ perceptions of their hospital care, from cleanliness and noise levels to medication explanations and staff responsiveness. This is the 9th time White Plains Hospital has received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award.

“We are honored to continue to be consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the nation for quality care,” said Dr. Rafael E. Torres, Chief Quality Officer at White Plains Hospital. “Quality, safety, and the patient experience are at the center of everything we do and to receive these awards from Healthgrades highlights the efforts of our entire staff to deliver exceptional patient care.”

“We commend White Plains Hospital for going above and beyond to provide a best-in-class care experience for patients during their hospital stay,” said Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer and head of data sciences at Healthgrades. “White Plains Hospital’s dedication to superior patient care is particularly impressive given recent declines in patient satisfaction scores across the country. We look forward to their continued leadership and commitment to ensuring the health and wellness of all patients.”

In addition to the Patient Safety Excellence Award and Outstanding Patient Experience Award, earlier this year Healthgrades named White Plains Hospital one of “America’s Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention.” A full list of White Plains Hospital’s accreditations and awards can be found here.

About White Plains Hospital  

White Plains Hospital is a proud member of the Montefiore Health System, serving as its tertiary hub of advanced care in the Hudson Valley. The Hospital is a 292-bed not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of providing exceptional acute and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. White Plains Hospital has outpatient medical facilities across Westchester, including multispecialty practices in Armonk, Hawthorne, Larchmont, New Rochelle, Rye Brook, Somers, Yonkers and Yorktown Heights; and Scarsdale Medical Group locations in Harrison and Scarsdale.

The Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and in 2023, White Plains Hospital received another 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – the highest distinction offered by that federal agency for the second consecutive year. In addition, the Hospital received its third Magnet® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a distinction held by only two percent of hospitals in the country. In 2023, White Plains Hospital was awarded an “A” Safety Grade from the Leapfrog Group for the 10th consecutive time.

https://www.wphospital.org/

Northern Westchester Hospital Wins Gold in Patient Safe Handling Olympics

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Team members from Northern Westchester Hospital who participated in the Northwell Olympics. From left to right: Lorraine Owens, RN, BSN, Administrative Supervisor, Co-Chair of Safe Patient Handling; Abigail O’Brien PCA-IV Co- Chair of Safe Patient Handling Team; Laura Longbard RN, Mixed Medical/ Oncology; Larry Reo PCA-IV, ED Tech, Co-Chair of Safe Patient Handling team; Thomas Addai PCA- IV, Mixed Medical/Oncology.

Northern Westchester Hospital brought home the gold recently as the Northwell Health Center for Learning and Innovation and Patient Safety Institute (CLI) was turned into an Olympics of sorts, pitting health system hospitals against one another in their quest for a medal in safe patient handling.

Teams from Staten Island University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Forest Hills brought home silver and bronze medals respectively.

The event in Lake Success, NY, was designed to be a fun and creative way to demonstrate safe and proper patient handling techniques that benefit both patients and healthcare workers.

“People don’t realize how dangerous it is to work in a hospital because we’re always moving patients,” said Paul M. Power, director of workforce safety for Northwell. According to statistics, one in three injuries to healthcare workers are caused by moving patients, and the majority of those injuries involve the back.

In fact, nursing staff sustains approximately 73 percent of musculoskeletal disorders (injuries that affect the human body’s movement and can involve muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and discs)..

“The average healthcare worker manually lifts 1.8 tons per eight-hour shift,” explained Power. “That’s equal to lifting one sedan per shift.”

To that end, hospital teams of five members competed in four events using motorized lifts and others devices to safely transition Northwell employees acting as patients in the following scenarios: laterally from a gurney to a bed; from a chair to a bed; from a bed to a chair; and off of the floor.

The teams were comprised of nurses, nurses’ assistants, occupational and physical therapists.

As the teams competed, they were judged by a nurse and occupational therapist, as well as the patient actor who scored them on their transport and interpersonal skills.

In 2014, New York State passed the Safe Patient Handling Law that requires healthcare facilities to establish safe patient handling programs. The law recognizes that safe patient handling programs can reduce the risk of injury, protect patient dignity, improve quality of care, increase patient satisfaction and enhance caregiver morale.

For Susana Dealmida, RN, BSN, MHA, assistant director of inpatient services at Northern Westchester Hospital and a nurse there, the Olympics is the perfect way to showcase the importance of proper body mechanics and using technology for safety sake.

“Northern Westchester was able to take home the gold because our front-line staff is used to being engaged as unit champions,” said Ms. Dealmida. “This has created a culture that promotes peer-to-peer accountability to practice safety protocols. A simple action, such as relocating the lift equipment from equipment rooms onto units, has improved accessibility and increased usage of the equipment.