Vail Health recognized for delivering patient safety, overall experience

Vail Health on Tuesday issued the following press release on its recognition for patient safety and experience:

Vail Health was recently recognized by a variety of organizations for its commitment to both patient safety and patient experience. The recognitions came from three different national outlets; the Leapfrog Group, Press Ganey, and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Vail Health was awarded an ‘A’ safety grade by the Leapfrog Group in their fall 2021 ratings, a national distinction recognizing Vail Health’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. Additionally, Vail Health has once again been named a 2021 Guardian of Excellence Award recipient by Press Ganey, for the Emergency Department’s high marks in patient experience. 

“Across all departments, Vail Health staff are dedicated to creating a safe and caring atmosphere for our patients and fellow staff members. These recent recognitions from various national entities is a welcome acknowledgement of their efforts,” said Vail Health President and CEO Will Cook. “Again and again, our teams showcase their commitment to serving our community and visitors, and I am proud and honored to work with such incredible people.” 

On Nov. 11, representatives from Vail Health Hospital also accepted the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)’s Pathway to Excellence designation at a national event in Atlanta, GA. Announced in May 2021, the Pathway to Excellence designation is a global credential that highlights Vail Health Hospital’s commitment to creating a healthy work environment where nurses feel empowered and valued. The attached photos are from that event.    

“It was an honor and a privilege to attend the ANCC Pathway to Excellence and ANCC National Magnet Conference in Atlanta, along with leaders from our nursing team, to accept Vail Health Hospital’s award. Our nursing staff has dedicated years to creating an exceptional culture and consistently focuses on supporting the personal wellbeing of our nurses and ensuring our nursing staff has a voice in decision-making,” said Amanda Veit, Vail Health COO and Chief Nursing Officer. “I am so blessed to work with this amazing team of people that give of themselves and strive to make a difference everyday by elevating care in our community.”  

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care. Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

The Guardian of Excellence Award recognizes top-performing health care organizations that have achieved the 95th percentile or above for performance in Patient Experience. This is the second consecutive year that Vail Health has been recognized by Press Ganey, as Vail Health received the award for the first-time ever in 2020. What makes this recognition so valuable is that it is determined by feedback directly from patients through the Press Ganey surveys. The award honors healthcare systems who consistently sustained performance in the top 5% of all Press Ganey clients for each reporting period during the course of one year and represents an important recognition from the industry’s leader in measuring, understanding, and improving the delivery of care.