Great things are happening for the residents of North Thornton, Colorado and surrounding communities. As of May 7, 2012, folks in the area will have better access to 24-hour healthcare services with the opening of North Suburban Medical Center’s free-standing emergency department, Northeast ER.

North Suburban Medical Center is part of the HCA HealthONE network in Denver.

The 10,000 foot, state-of-the-art emergency department is a fully functional hospital-based ER complete with round the clock operations, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with fully-staffed board-certified emergency physicians and emergency-trained nurses and specialists equipped with the latest emergency diagnostic and surgical equipment capable of treating everything from sniffles to strokes.

The facility boasts the latest emergency diagnostic and surgical equipment available with in-house imaging and ultrasound departments; a full, on-site lab and a specialized trauma department.

“With the opening of Northeast ER, North Suburban Medical Center is enhancing the quality and convenience of emergency healthcare services for residents of North Thornton,” noted Jennifer Alderfer, North Suburban Medical Center CEO.

The hospital has also proudly partnered with the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children to better respond to pediatric emergencies.

“Our goal is to provide complete, convenient medical access, a little closer to home, for area residents,” stated Alderfer. “This facility is just the beginning of North Suburban Medical Center’s 9-acre Northeast ER campus which will also hold medical office buildings and a complete, ambulatory surgical center.”

Earlier in April, prior to the official opening, North Suburban Medical Center invited the community to tour the new facility, learn important injury prevention guidelines and meet Airlife & EMS critical transport agencies.

The goal of Thomas F. Frist Jr., before he founded and became Chairman Emeritus of HCA, has always been to better the human condition. HCA became the platform through which his goal to improve human life was achieved.

On a parallel path, the United Way for the past 118 years has sought to mobilize the caring power of communities into making a difference in people’s lives through improved education, income and health.

Recognizing the value in these parallels, Dr. Frist created the Alexis de Tocqueville Society in 1981 as a way to bridge and strengthen shared goals and to unite community leaders of like mind. His committed stewardship of the program over the past 30 years has seen the expansion of its original ten communities in Nashville to well over 500 communities worldwide.

For his lifetime commitment, the United Way at the Community Leaders Conference in Nashville last week presented Dr. Frist with the inaugural United Way Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual’s contributions over a lifetime of effort that help create opportunities for a better life for all and advance the common good in global communities.

“I am honored to accept the United Way Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Frist at the conference. “Individuals and corporations play an important role in the creation of stronger, more vibrant societies, and I am thankful that I have been able to play a small part in the development of opportunities for a better life for all. I am forever indebted to HCA for providing me a platform and encouragement over the years to work with organizations like United Way Worldwide.”

Since its inception, Alexis de Tocqueville Society members, including Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet and more than 25,000 other families around the world, have invested an average of about $600 million annually.

Brian Gallagher, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, says Dr. Frist’s longstanding support of United Way “is a tremendous asset to communities throughout our worldwide network. Throughout a lifetime of philanthropy and community support, Dr. Frist has helped grow the United Way movement, through the creation and stewardship of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society and continual advocacy for our community impact goals in education, income and health.”

“Dr. Frist’s extraordinary leadership remains a benchmark moment in philanthropy, and the catalytic effect will be felt for generations to come,” added 14-year Tocqueville Society member Mike Schmerling, chairman of Choice Food Group in Nashville. “The impact of his vision can be measured by the $7 billion generated to date, the 25,000-membership in over 500 societies worldwide, and most importantly, the positive impact on countless lives. Dr. Frist’s invitation to invest at an altitude that reflects the true capacity of our caring is among the most important in the history of philanthropy,” Schmerling continued.

National Nurses Week is recognized every year from May 6 to May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. A pioneer in nursing, Nightingale was known as the “Lady with the Lamp”, dubbed so for her nightly rounds of addressing soldier’s wounds on the battlefield during the Crimean War.

She is recognized as the founder of modern nursing, renowned for her commitment to patient care, compassion and diligent and thoughtful hospital administration.

The advocacy of the nursing profession had been promoted by the ANA since 1896 but was not formally recognized as the weeklong celebration of National Nurses Week until 1990. It was designated to help bring awareness to the important role nursing brings to the healthcare community as well as the asset nurses represent in healthcare systems overall.

For HCA, National Nurses Week celebrates everything that makes our nursing staff incredible.

As a token of our appreciation, we’ve created the following video to say Thank You. Thank you for the quality of care you provide to the patients we serve. Everything you do reflects in a positive light HCA’s reputation as a healthcare service provider. You are why we are number one in the nation. We hope you enjoy the video.

Special thanks to our President of Operations, Sam Hazen and other senior officers for making a cameo appearance at the end of the video.

Every year critical care practitioners and the Society of Critical Care Medicine encourage healthcare professionals across the country to observe May as National Critical Awareness and Recognition Month.

NCCARM serves as a way to bring to light the importance of this life-saving practice and the demanding issues facing critical care services, namely a substantial shortage of nursing professionals and a lack of critical care training.

More than five million Americans are admitted to the roughly 7,000 ICUs in the nation on an annual basis. The problem lies in that there are only 7,000 practicing intensivists in the U.S., which equates to 1 critical care specialist per ICU.

It is estimated that as many as 54,000 lives could be saved every year were more training available and round-the-clock coverage were provided.

HCA recognizes the importance of its critical care teams and is doing its part this year to pay homage to the healthcare professionals in critical care departments of all HCA facilities in its observance of NCCARM by wearing blue on Friday, May 18.

Won’t you please take a few moments of your time to recognize the efforts of our dedicated critical care professionals? You can show your appreciation for the critical care teams in your institution by decorating your ICU blue that Friday. From blue attire, blue treats for staff, blue balloons or blue decor, we hope you find some way to express NCCARM.

You are also encouraged to take photos of your blue ICU and team and post them to our Facebook wall.

Let’s applaud and celebrate the work of every member of our critical care teams this May 18 by wearing blue.

Having been instrumental in a major $80 million expansion project for HCA’s West Hills Hospital & Medical Center in Los Angeles to improve community services, including the construction of a new emergency department and ICU, plus the relocation of renowned Grossman Burn Center to the facility, Janice Balzano has the experience as Chief Operating Officer to merit the title.

She has also seen success as Chief Financial Officer at both Sutter Solano Medical Center and Sutter Delta Medical Center in Northern California, as well as in administrative roles in multy-specialty medical group practice settings with Sutter Medical Foundation and Family Doctor Medical Group.

And now, in a 2,163 mile move from the West Hills facility in Los Angeles to Brandon Florida, Janice has the opportunity to forge a new legacy as the newly appointed COO of Brandon Regional Hospital.

HCA made the announcement early last week.

Having been the first accredited hospital in Hillsborough County as a Chest Pain Center with PCI from The Society of Chest Pain Centers, Brandon Regional Hospital is a nice parallel for Janis’ experience.

The hospital was also esteemed highly by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons with a three-star award for excellence in cardiac surgery.

Other recognitions include Certification as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission amd the Bariatric Center of Excellence award by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

As part of her duties, Janice will assist in the daily operations of the newly renovated and expanded Women’s Center, including The Baby Suites, Level III NICU and new in-patient rooms for gynecology and anti-partum patients along with the newly added Reflux Center, the Behavioral Health Center and the Neuroscience Center and Heart & Vascular Center.

We wish you all the success in your new role, Janice.

History is sometimes well worth repeating, especially when it comes to the positive impact our hospitals and employees make on improving healthcare. Even better is gaining recognition for all your hard work.

The following video highlights many of the honors and recognition we as a company, as a family, have achieved in 2011. Please enjoy it.

And we’d like to extend a great big “Thank You!” to all who continue to make HCA the number one healthcare service provider in the nation.

Transcript
The men and women of HCA have both an individual and team commitment for the improvement of human life. That shared dedication to HCA’s mission has meant global recognition for HCA earning the company accolades and honors for clinical excellence, for creating a healthy work environment that’s a workplace of choice, for providing leadership in healthcare and for being an excellent corporate citizen.

This HCA Honor Roll highlights some of the many memorable honors and recognitions HCA has recently attained.

One award serves as a special tribute to the hard work of HCA’s affiliated physicians and employees responsible for more than 18 million annual patient encounters. That was when 76 HCA facilities were named Top Performing Hospitals by the Joint Commission, the primary accrediting body of American hospitals.

Fortune Magazine once again named HCA to its World’s Most Admired Companies list, ranking at number one in the category Healthcare/Medical Facilities.

And for the third consecutive year, HCA was named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere.com.

Other Mentions in 2011:
Top Places To Work – Computerworld
Health Care’s Most Wired – Hospitals and Health Networks
Best Places To Work – Modern Healthcare
Best Places To Work In Healthcare – Becker’s Hospital Review
Nursing Excellence – ANCC Magnet Recognition Program

And that’s your HCA Honor Roll.

We look forward to sharing more good news with you as the people of HCA continue to help it earn distinctions that make it America’s most successful and respected healthcare company.

What makes a hospital one of the best in the nation? Ask any of the following HCA facilities: Kendall Regional Medical Center, Kendall, Florida, Ocala Regional Medical Center, Ocala, Florida, St. David’s Medical Center, Austin, Texas, St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, Austin, Texas, Gulf Coast Medical Center, Panama City, Florida, Northwest Medical Center, Margate, Florida, and St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, Round Rock, Texas.

These seven facilities made Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals for 2012.

Decisions to recognize facilities as “benchmark institutions” are based on performance in ten areas:

• mortality
• medical complications
• patient safety
• average patient stay
• expenses
• profitability
• patient satisfaction
• adherence to clinical standards of care
• post-discharge mortality
• readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, and pneumonia.

The study has been conducted annually since 1993. “This year,” says Reuters, “the concentration of 100 Top Hospitals has shifted significantly, with Texas, Florida and California housing the most winners. A major change in performance geographically is an encouraging indication that the bar for quality care has been raised once again.”

The final scores for the top 100 of all 2,886 short-term, acute-care, non-federal hospitals were judged across five categories: Major Teaching Hospitals with more than 400 beds and higher levels of physician education and research, Teaching Hospitals with more than 200 beds and some physician education and three tiers (large: 250+ beds, medium: 100 – 249 beds, and small: 25 – 99 beds) of Community Hospitals.

To be named, hospitals must score well compared to others in their category based on composite scores of at least median level of 14 measures of quality, efficiency, safety and patient satisfaction. Top hospitals outperformed their peers in all 14 measures.

Four HCA facilities are Large Community Hospitals—Kendall Regional Medical Center, Ocala Regional Medical Center and the two Austin locations of St. David’s.

Gulf Coast Medical Center, Northwest Medical Center and St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center fall under Medium Community Hospitals.

Data for the Reuters’ analysis is derived from public information – Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.

It’s interesting to note that if all hospitals performed at the same level as the HCA facilities and the other 100 Top Hospitals award winners, based on an analysis of Medicare inpatients over one year:

-More than 186,000 additional lives could be saved.
-Approximately 56,000 additional patients could be complication-free.
-More than $4.3 billion could be saved.
-The average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.

Imagine the numbers if it applied to all inpatients. That’s some real food for thought.

A well-deserved congratulations to all HCA facilities to receive the honor.

No one knows how to inspire employees to better engage with their hospital than Ashley McClellan, CEO and President of Medical Center of Lewisville, Texas. Her inspiration to employees has gained the facility a place in HCA’s Top 10 Percent of Hospitals.

Her success, she admits, comes from her greatest resource – the employees themselves.

Giving employees a voice has been decisively conducive to creating a healthier work environment and their input has been encouraged through several avenues: one being an employee advisory committee consisting of front line employees and another through their “Ask Senior Team” blog where employees can engage in anonymous questions and compliments.

“When employees enjoy their work, the patients and physicians are more likely to have a positive experience as well,” says Ms. McClellan.

This ongoing, open commentary with employees has gained recognition for the hospital, placing it in the top 10 percent of all HCA Hospitals for Employee Engagement for the past two years.

But Ashley has long been an asset to HCA’s Lewisville facility. She was COO from 2008 to September 2011 when she became interim CEO. Her positioned was then solidified in December. She has been with HCA for five years now.

In that time she has helped design the first free-standing emergency department with an attached outpatient-imaging center, the Flower Mound Emergency Center in North Texas.

She has also decreased turnaround times by 79 minutes in the emergency department and has been instrumental in support of the hospital gaining accreditations such as Joint Commission Disease Specific Certifications for total hip, total knee and inpatient diabetes.

In the community, Ashley is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, a member of the Flower Mound Rotary and a wish granter for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas.

In 2010, she was honored in Dallas Business Journal’s annual 40 Under Forty issue and was awarded the 2011 Young Healthcare Executive of the Year award from the Dallas/Fort Worth Hospital Council.

Ashley’s efforts and the role her employees take to better serve their community and their hospital has been inspiring to all of us at HCA.

Partnering with St. David’s Healthcare and Austin Community College, HCA will embark on a custom training program funded by a $458,419 grant from the Texas Workforce Commission.

The high skills training provided to employees in HCA and St. David’s facilities of El Paso, Round Rock, Austin and Georgetown focuses on improving performance of new and incumbent nurses and technicians.

The goal of the program is to refine career paths for the 255 trainees while increasing the capacity for allied health training at ACC.

Based on their status, trainees will be positioned to earn between $20.32 and $63.47 per hour on completion of the program.

“Preserving and enhancing the pipeline of highly skilled healthcare workers is extremely important for the future of our region,” says Dr. Kathy Walton, executive director of ACC’s Corporate Training Solutions. “ACC works with employers to upgrade the skill sets of their employees, helping ensure the quality of care in Central Texas.”

ACC’s Corporate Training Solutions specializes in delivering customized high quality training strategies building on employee performance and productivity skills in local, national and international businesses.

The annual Skills Development Fund grant under the Texas Workforce Commission has provided more than 266,000 job upgrades since 1996.

“Our Skills Development Fund grants serve everyone well,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Ronny Congleton. “Workers get the specialized training they need and the communities benefit from a more highly skilled workforce.”

Since 2006, HCA has been battling Williamson Medical Center in Franklin and Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia over the proposed TriStar facility at Spring Hill. The county-owned hospitals contend the 56-bed initiative would duplicate existing services.

But after years of appeals, HCA will finally see the TriStar Medical Office Building come to fruition.

The facility was initially okayed in July 2006 when the Health Services Development Agency granted HCA TriStar a Certificate of Need. However, those plans fell through when, after years of appeals by the county-owned hospitals contesting the project, the Davidson County Chancery Court overturned the CON in 2009.

The ruling denied Spring Hill and surrounding communities access to the proposed 24-hour urgent care facility despite the fact that local medical centers provided services only twelve hours of the day.

Centennial Medical Center, to which the HCA TriStar facility would become a satellite emergency department, cited the population growth of Spring Hill expanding outward from the local medical centers created the need for new health care services in the area, which the two local facilities, having won the appeals, failed to address.

That reasoning was sound. In a 2010 hearing, after two hours of questioning and debate by opposing groups, the state formally approved HCA’s request.

The official groundbreaking ceremony will begin April 17, 2012.

The project is to include a 10,768-square-foot emergency room with 24-hour emergency diagnostic and treatment services plus a laboratory and state-of-the-art imaging capabilities.

The $15 million project starts May 1, 2012 and is expected to take about 12 months to complete and create an initial twenty-five jobs.

The emergency room will occupy the first floor of what will be the three-story, 49,851-square-foot TriStar Medical Office Building on a 125-acre campus.

The ground-breaking ceremony is at 1 p.m. at the construction site on Reserve Boulevard.