Saint Joseph Hospital Honored with Kentucky Hospital Association Quality Award - Archived

Saint Joseph Hospital Honored with
Kentucky Hospital Association Quality Award

Lexington, Ky. (May 28, 2014)—Saint Joseph Hospital, part of KentuckyOne Health, has been named a recipient of the 2014 Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) Quality Award. The facility was recognized at the organization’s annual meeting, which was held on May 9.  

The hospital was selected among hospitals with more than 250 beds, and was chosen based on the implementation of a sepsis initiative designed to improve quality metrics related to severe sepsis and septic shock, including hospital and ICU length-of-stay, mortality and re-admission within 30 days. Sepsis is a potentially fatal whole-body inflammation caused by severe infection.

“It is our goal to provide quality, compassionate care to all of our patients,” said John Smithhisler, market leader, Lexington and president of Saint Joseph Hospital.  “We’re honored to receive this recognition from KHA for our efforts.”

Saint Joseph Hospital’s sepsis initiative was a collaborative effort between the Sepsis Committee and Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs.  It focused on early identification and treatment of patients with sepsis using principles derived from established guidelines. Significant improvements in all quality metrics were noted after implementing the program.

The Kentucky Hospital Association Quality Award is presented to honor hospital leadership and innovation in quality, safety, and commitment in patient care. The goal is to raise awareness of the need for an organization-wide commitment to highly reliable, exceptional quality, patient-centered care and reward successful efforts to develop and promote improvements in quality of care.

About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health was formed when two major Kentucky health care organizations came together in early 2012. KentuckyOne Health combines the Jewish and Catholic heritages of the two former systems – Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System. In late 2012, the organization formed a partnership with the University of Louisville Hospital | James Graham Brown Cancer Center.  The nonprofit system is committed to improving the health of Kentuckians by integrating medical research, education, technology and health care services wherever patients receive care. KentuckyOne Health has more than 200 locations including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies across the state of Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is the largest health system in Kentucky.

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Photo Caption:  Russ Judd, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Coordinator, receiving the KHA Quality Award from Charles Lovell, Jr., 2013-2014 KHA Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Caldwell Medical Center.