Slidell Memorial Hospital has been recognized with a 2007 Louisiana Hospital Quality Award, presented by Louisiana Health Care Review Inc., the Medicare quality improvement organization for Louisiana.

The award was announced at the first Louisiana Health Care Quality Summit hosted by LHCR in Baton Rouge in April. With this award, SMH has been recognized for improving the quality of health care given to its patients, and is one of 67 hospitals in the state to receive the 2007 award.

The award honors Louisiana hospitals that successfully implement quality initiatives directed toward improving patient care. Hospitals must have achieved improvement of at least 25 percent for each applicable topic, or have maintained a level of performance above 90 percent during the 2006 calendar year.

The award recognizes those facilities that are actively engaged in improving care in one or more of the following areas: acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.

The clinical topics measured for the awards are designated as national health care priorities by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. SMH staff members have been working with quality improvement specialists from LHCR to use proven, evidence-based practices to improve care for their patients.

Over the course of the assessed period, SMH saw significant improvement in adherence to national quality standards for treating congestive heart failure and surgical care improvement.

In addition to receiving a Silver Award from Louisiana Health Care Review, SMH is one of just five hospitals in Louisiana and one of 165 in the nation to earn its second consecutive HealthGrades’ Distinguished Hospital for Patient Safety Award™.

According to SMH Chief Executive Officer Bob Hawley, his team’s efforts to provide excellence in patient care have been enhanced through its quality improvement partnerships with LHCR.

“We are extremely proud to be a recipient of this distinguished award,” said Hawley.