2015: A Year In Review

All that I can say is WOW, what a year!  Throughout our 19-year history, WMHS has had so many successes from our very tumultuous beginning and then evolving to our current state of success to the acquisition of Frostburg Hospital 20 years ago and creating what is now Frostburg Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to building a new hospital and opening it in 2009 to our value-based care delivery model, which is now in its sixth year while the rest of the hospitals outside of Maryland begin to introduce a similar delivery model.  

For 2015, we have continued as the region's largest employer, we still have an economic impact on the region of over $350 million annually, we provide tens of millions in community benefit each year and we have demonstrated solid financial performance over the last three fiscal years.  

What has been significantly different about 2015 has been the amount of recognition that we have received for our quality and patient safety at WMHS.  We were recognized as best in Maryland in the Quality Reimbursement Program and as a top performer in hand hygiene.  We received awards from the Maryland Patient Safety Center for Distinguished Achievement in Patient Safety, the National Cardiovascular Data Registry for performance measure scores in acute myocardial patients, recognized by Healthgrades in five categories including Excellence Awards in Patient Safety and Cardiac Surgery, ranked by US News and World Report as 11th out of Maryland's 46 hospitals and first in Western Maryland and honored by the March of Dimes, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Maryland Patient Safety Center for improving the quality of care provided to mothers and babies.  

In late 2014, we also received recognition through the Total Patient Revenue Collaborative by the American Hospital Association through the awarding of their Living the Vision Award.  For the first time in our almost two decade history, we were also recognized by AHA as one of the country's Most Wired Hospitals.

For 2016, we are finalists for two nationally recognized quality awards, but since we are still in a communication blackout period, I am not permitted to disclose the awards.  These achievements and recognition haven't come easily as we have spent years preparing the organization for success.  We are so fortunate to have so many dedicated individuals who are committed to being the best at what they do.  

As I have blogged previously, we are not perfect and we do make mistakes.  Our goal is to learn from these mistakes and bring improvement to our programs and services.  If 2015 is any indication, we have made significant inroads in bringing improvement to the care that we deliver system wide.  Have a Blessed New Year!