Local Hospital Wins Statewide Patient Safety Award

Local Hospital Wins Statewide Patient Safety Award

The Medical Center of Central Georgia Awarded for Pneumonia Prevention  

MACON, GA (Tuesday, February 12, 2013) – The Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) presented its prestigious Quality and Patient Safety Award to The Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG) in Macon for its project that reduced the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). The project titled, “Zapping VAP and Sustaining it at Zero,” won first place in the Hospitals with Greater than 300 Beds Category. These annual awards recognize Georgia health care organizations for achievement in reducing the risk of medical errors and improving patient safety and medical outcomes.

The goals of the project were to reduce the incidents of VAP by 50 percent in the intensive care units (ICUs) and achieve a 90 percent or greater compliance with VAP bundles. A bundle is a series of interventions developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) that, when implemented together, result in significantly better outcomes than when implemented individually.

By using the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) methodology, which creates a systematic approach to implementing change, and engaging key staff, MCCG implemented several changes and has reduced the number of VAP by 98 percent in the past five years. Most recently, the hospital has sustained a rate of zero VAP occurrences. The staff has achieved greater than 90 percent compliance on use of the ventilator bundles for the past two years.

“Prevention of pneumonia is a priority of hospitals statewide,” said Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) President Joseph Parker. “We applaud The Medical Center of Central Georgia for taking a leadership role in this effort and are grateful for its dedication to providing the best and safest care possible for its patients.”

In the attached photo, representatives of MCCG receive GHA's Quality and Patient Safety Award. From left to right, Terrie Hastings, Assistant Director of Quality at MCCG; Nancy Osborn, Manager of Infection Prevention Control and Epidemiology at MCCG; Joe Parker, President of GHA; Drew Elrod, Innovation Engineer at MCCG.