Awards and Recognitions | Cooley Dickinson Hospital

2012

Leapfrog Ranks Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Top 10 Percent for Value
For the second consecutive year, The Leapfrog Group reports that Cooley Dickinson Hospital ranked in the top 10 percent on overall value, a measure that takes into account the quality of care hospitals provide as well as resource use.
Cooley Dickinson among Top Performing Hospitals in QUEST Collaborative
Cooley Dickinson Hospital is among the 2011 Top Performing Hospitals in the Premier healthcare alliance’s national QUEST collaborative. The following data demonstrates that CDH is doing better than the benchmarks set by the collaborative.

In the delivery of evidence-based care, CDH ranked 10 percentage points above the top performing hospitals’ score of 84 percent. (For example, CDH provided vaccinations to all pneumonia patients or prescribed a high blood pressure or chest pain medication to all heart attack patients prior to discharge more frequently than other QUEST hospitals.)
CDH reduced avoidable hospital mortality with a rate of 0.72, compared to the 0.98 needed to be a top hospital (lower is better).
When it comes to the cost of care, CDH’s cost per adjusted admission was $780 lower than that for other community hospitals in our size group. This is the first year CDH placed among the top performing QUEST hospitals; only two Massachusetts hospitals made the ranking.
Childbirth Center Recognized with Lactation Excellence Award
The International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners® (IBLCE®) and International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) recognized Cooley Dickinson Hospital for excellence in lactation care. The Childbirth Center received the IBCLC Care Award, because it employs International Board Certified Lactation Consultants® (IBCLCs) and provides a lactation program available five to seven days a week for breastfeeding families. The recognition highlights maternity facilities that help mothers get off to a good start breastfeeding.

Grant Partially Funds Step Up Program for Diabetics
Novo Nordisk awarded Cooley Dickinson’s Center for Excellence in Diabetes Education $10,000 to partially cover a structured diabetes monitoring program to help diabetics reduce the complications from their disease. People living with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk than others of heart and kidney disease and additional complications that worsen their quality of life. Step Up: Help for People Living with Diabetes is a 12-session program comprised of four weekly sessions. It is an evidence-based pilot program. Step Up offers a group approach to exercise, nutrition, meal planning, behavioral support, and medication management. Its goals include helping diabetics better manage weight gain and blood glucose levels.

AIDS CARE/Hampshire County Wins Grant Funding for Housing
AIDS CARE/Hampshire County (ACHC), in partnership with the City of Northampton’s Office of Housing and Community Development, will be awarded $111,348. The funding is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which recently announced the award of $200 million in new project funding.

Advocate Readers Vote CDH Birthing Center Best in the Valley — Again!
In the words of the Valley Advocate, “Parents can be pretty savvy, not to mention choosy, consumers themselves, making the competition for the Best Childbirth Center especially meaningful. This year, the honor went to Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s Childbirth Center.” It’s the second consecutive year Advocate readers voted Cooley Dickinson’s center the best. Baystate Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center, both in Springfield, came in second and third.

Cooley Dickinson wins advertising Award
Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s Side by Side testimonial campaign won Silver Recognition in the 29th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards, sponsored by Healthcare Marketing Report. Nearly 4,000 entries were received in the competition, making the awards the largest healthcare advertising awards competition. Side by Side won in the Total Advertising Campaign with TV category. A national panel of judges reviewed all entries based on creativity, quality, message effectiveness, consumer appeal, graphic design, and overall impact. View the award-winning campaign here.

Prairie Dog | TCG, the advertising firm Public Affairs selected after an agency search in early 2011, conceived and produced the series. It features real people enlightening one another about an experience with Cooley Dickinson. These are little “ah ha” moments where the conversation helps sway one of the people to reconsider or think about Cooley Dickinson because the talk is so good. The ads, shot on location and appearing in newspapers and on TV and the Internet, featured the Cancer Care Program, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, and CDH’s Patient Safety Excellence Award.

2011

The New England association Directors Healthcare Volunteer Services (NEADHVS) awarded Empty Arms — a support program for parents who have experienced infant loss, miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death — its President’s Award for Outstanding Program Development. Carol McMurrich, experienced the loss of her baby, founded Empty Arms 4½ years ago. The Cooley Dickinson Hospital Childbirth Center, Pastoral Care, and Volunteer departments collaborate to run the donor-funded program. Empty Arms meets monthly at Cooley Dickinson and links participants to other members and outside sources, so they always have support when needed. The program first served 20 parents in 2007 and grew to serve 60 parents in 2010.

VHA, Inc., a national healthcare network, recognized Cooley Dickinson Hospital as one of 13 healthcare facilities in the nation to earn VHA’s 2011 Leadership Award for Sustainability.

Cooley Dickinson Hospital has been ranked in the top five percent of all U.S. hospitals in patient safety by HealthGrades®, the country's leading independent health care ratings organization. Cooley Dickinson is one of just 12 hospitals in Massachusetts to receive the 2011 recognition. It is the only hospital in the Springfield, Mass. area to achieve the HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award for three consecutive years.
Compared to other U.S. Hospitals, Cooley Dickinson uses resources wisely and provides efficient care. The Leapfrog Group reports that Cooley Dickinson Hospital ranked in the top 10 percent on a national efficiency score that takes into account the quality of care hospitals provide as well as resource use.
The VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson was named to the 2010 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States. The ranking was based on an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, quality improvement and financial performance.

2010

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care named Cooley Dickinson to its hospital honor roll for 2010. This recognition demonstrates how insurance companies value quality, satisfaction, and efficient use of resources. Harvard Pilgrim's Hospital Honor Roll is for adult, acute care hospitals that perform in the top 25 percent of hospitals nationally on clinical quality, efficiency, and patient satisfaction measures.

Cooley Dickinson Hospital received the 2010 Breath of Life Award from the American Lung Association for the organization's steps to become a smoke-free facility.
Cooley Dickinson has the lowest readmission rate in the Commonwealth for congestive heart failure, according to data (2008-2009) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). (2010)
Cooley Dickinson earns distinction from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts has designated Cooley Dickinson Hospital as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement. Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement are part of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s expansion of its Blue Distinction® designation. Cooley Dickinson Hospital is one of several facilities that has achieved the Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement in Massachusetts.
CDH represented at international meeting of infectious disease physicians
Dr. Joanne Levin presented CDH’s results in reducing hospital acquired MRSA by 70 percent at the 2010 international meeting of infectious disease physicians in Atlanta. Dr. Levin says this conference, assembled just once every decade, examines the prevention efforts of physicians, nurses and the Centers for Disease Control. Cooley Dickinson is one of only a few hospitals in western Mass. that offers a proactive and comprehensive screening program that has resulted in a 70 percent decrease in hospital-acquired MRSA.
Cooley Dickinson completes successful Joint Commission surveyIn December, Cooley Dickinson Hospital underwent a four-day, unannounced Joint Commission accreditation survey. This week, the hospital received notification that it had successfully achieved re-accreditation through March 2013. Over the four days, a four-member survey team inspected all clinical areas of the hospital including the ER, the Kittredge Surgery Center and inpatient units, and visited the laboratory, rehabilitation sites and other outpatient facilities. The surveyors interviewed staff to evaluate how care is delivered at Cooley Dickinson. They also reviewed the organization’s protocols in patient safety, patient rights and responsibilities, infection prevention, emergency preparedness and management, performance improvement and documentation. (2009)

CDH program receives award from Mass. DPH
In late November, the Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Communities (WMCHC), a program of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, received the Massachusetts Public Health Association’s Public Service Award. The award is given for an organization’s commitment to public health and social equality in Western Massachusetts. WMCHC received the award for its work in creating 10 substance abuse prevention coalitions. (2009)

Joint Commission Recognition
The Joint Commission Recognizes Effectiveness of Clinical Microsystems at CDH. In the October 2008 journal issued by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, CDH is noted as one of two hospitals in the nation breaking new ground in quality improvement. The Clinical Microsystems method involves teams of front-line staff identifying problems and solutions in order to achieve the greatest results in improving patient-centered care. (2008)

Betsy Lehman Patient Safety Recognition Award
Cooley Dickinson received the 2007 Betsy Lehman Patient Safety Recognition Award, a prestigious statewide award that recognizes CDH’s initiatives to eliminate hospital-associated infections. (2007)

CareScience
CareScience, an independent company that provides clinical analysis of care at hospitals across the nation, recognized Cooley Dickinson as one of only six hospitals in the country to achieve both Select Practice National Quality Leader status, a distinction given to the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide, and designation as a top-performing hospital in three out of seven disease-specific categories. In addition to being in the elite National Quality Leader group, Cooley was rated by CareScience as providing model care in the categories of heart failure, ischemic stroke and pneumonia. (2006)

Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Institute for Healthcare Improvement names CDH a Mentor Hospital as part of a two-year, nationwide movement to improve patient safety and prevent avoidable patient deaths. CDH was one of just two hospitals in the state to achieve mentor status in three clinical care areas, and one of only 100 hospitals nationwide to have earned the designation. CDH participates in the Institute’s 5 Million Lives campaign, a nationwide movement to improve patient safety and prevent avoidable patient deaths. (2006)

Newsweek Magazine
Cooley Dickinson was featured in Newsweek for Advancing Patient Safety. The October 16, 2006, issue included CDH as one of 10 healthcare institutions around the country “using innovation, hard work and imagination to improve care, reduce errors and save money.” (2006)

American Hospital Association’s Trustee Magazine
Craig N. Melin, CDH president/CEO, is quoted in the article “A Campaign for 100,000 Lives – The Time is Now for Boards to Lead Quality and Safety Efforts”. The article highlights a national trend that finds hospital governing bodies, commonly called boards of trustees, taking a more active role in quality and patient safety, and propelling hospitals toward best practices in patient care. In 1999 CDH’s board of trustees decided to focus on two areas: quality and the community’s health. (2005)

Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, H2E Award
Cooley Dickinson was awarded the H2E Partners for Change award. “H2E” is a joint program of the American Hospital Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, Health Care Without Harm, and the American Nurses Association. The award recognizes hospitals that have made significant and sustainable progress toward reducing waste, preventing pollution, and eliminating mercury. Cooley Dickinson recycles more than 50 percent of its total waste. Paper recycling efforts have helped the hospital save an average of $900 to $1,000 per month on destruction of confidential material.(2005)

University of Massachusetts Chancellor’s Medal
Cooley Dickinson Hospital received the University of Massachusetts’ highest honor – the Chancellor’s Medal – for Cooley Dickinson’s nurse education partnership with the University’s School of Nursing. Designed to address the nationwide nursing shortage, the partnership works to increase recruitment and retention of nurses by fostering ties among nursing faculty, students, and experienced staff. (2002)

100 Top Hospitals - Regional Benchmarks for Success
Cooley Dickinson Hospital was named one of The Health Network and HCIA Sachs’s 100 Top Hospitals - Regional Benchmarks for Success award winners. The award was based on quality of care, efficiency of operations, and sustainability of overall performance. (1999)

Great Comeback Hospital
The American Hospital Association and Coopers & Lybrand recognized Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s financial turnaround and named CDH the “Great ComeBack” hospital of the year for mid-sized hospitals. The award recognized financial and managerial excellence among the nation’s then 6,000 hospitals. (1995)