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Media Contact: Diane Stollenwerk , Dir. of Communication & Development (206.448.2570 x117)

Media Contact: Hae Jin Shin, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (202.261.2888)

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Two Local Hosptials Selected to Participate in National Quality Improvement Collaborative

Nurses from Tacoma General Hospital and St. Francis Hospital will develop innovations to improve quality of care

Program is part of effort to align local forces for improved health care quality

SEATTLE, March 11, 2009— The Puget Sound Health Alliance announced today that Tacoma General Hospital, part of the MultiCare Health System, and St. Francis Hospital, part of the Franciscan Health System, have been selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to participate in a new effort to improve the quality of care in hospitals. The program will help nurses and other frontline staff identify, test and implement changes that will improve the quality and safety of patient care in their medical and surgical units.

The program is part of RWJF’s Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative, a cornerstone of the Foundation’s $300 million commitment to improving quality in specific regions across the United States. The Puget Sound Health Alliance coordinates local efforts for the AF4Q program, which includes the new quality improvement collaborative. The Puget Sound region was selected in 2006 as one of the first four coalitions to participate in AF4Q, which has grown to 14 AF4Q communities nationwide.

The new nurse-led quality improvement collaborative program is based on successful pilot efforts by the Foundation to transform care at the bedside, by making hospital staff who spend the most time directly caring for patients the key drivers of quality improvement. Hospitals that have already participated in the program report a cultural shift on their medical-surgical units that has produced better clinical outcomes, more time spent with patients by staff, and lower turnover of nursing jobs.

“We know that the quality of health care can be improved in every community in the nation, and the more people who get involved, the more likely we are to succeed,” said Mary McWilliams, executive director, the Puget Sound Health Alliance. “We are proud to have these two hospitals selected to participate in this national effort and see it as an important part of our collective strategy to improving quality of care. Not only will they learn new ways to improve care, but they will be sharing what works in our community with other hospitals around the nation that will benefit from our insights as we will benefit from theirs.”

Experts say the effort to transform care at the bedside is unusual in its focus on engaging nurses and other frontline staff to develop and lead the quality improvement efforts. Ideas for improving care come not from the hospital’s executives, but from the nurses who treat patients every day. Nurse-led teams identify where change is needed on their unit, suggest and test potential solutions, and decide whether and how those innovations should be implemented.

“Because they spend so much of their day with patients and their families, our nurses are in unique positions to know exactly where—and how—quality can be improved,” said Jo Ellen N. Vanatta, R.N., M.S.N, senior vice president and chief nurse executive, MultiCare Health System. “Nothing is more important than quality patient care. That is our core mission. I’m pleased our team was selected to be part of this collaborative effort.”

"While quality care is always our priority, this program will help us develop a new roadmap for providing care that is safe, reliable, and patient-centered," said Laurie Brown, chief nursing officer, Franciscan Health System. "We're delighted to be learning from others and sharing what we know nationwide."

Led by RWJF, the TCAB Collaborative will be overseen by The Center for Health Care Quality at The George Washington University Medical Center School of Public Health and Health Services, which serves as the national program office for the Aligning Forces for Quality initiative. Technical assistance will be provided by the American Organization of Nurse Executives. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement will convene training workshops for participants. The first group of hospitals in the Collaborative will begin their work this month and the second group will begin in the fall of 2009.

In every region involved in the Aligning Forces for Quality initiative including the Puget Sound region, broad-based teams of people who get care, give care, and pay for care are working together to improve health care quality. By aligning people from across the community in different AF4Q initiatives, the Puget Sound Health Alliance is helping to achieve community-wide transformation of health care.

For more information, visit www.pugetsoundhealthalliance.org or www.rwjf.org.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

The Puget Sound Health Alliance is a non-profit made up of those who provide, pay for and use health care, working together to improve quality of care at a price more people can afford. About 50 individuals and more than 150 organizations have joined the Alliance, including Alaska Airlines, Boeing, Starbucks, Puget Sound Energy, REI, WA State Health Care Authority, King County and many other employers, physician clinics, hospitals, consumer groups, unions and trusts, health plans and others. See www.pugetsoundhealthalliance.org. For an Alliance-produced report comparing local health care, go to www.WACommunityCheckup.org

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