November 21, 2006

Genesis Medical Center, DeWitt Receives National Award

DEWITT, Iowa – Patients who seek care at Genesis Medical Center, DeWitt’s Emergency Room can expect to receive excellent service that ranks among the very best in the country.

The hospital recently earned recognition as one of 61 hospitals across the nation to receive the 2006 Summit Award, the health care satisfaction industry’s most coveted symbol of achievement. The award by Press Ganey Associates recognizes top-performing facilities that have sustained the highest level of customer satisfaction – in the top 5 percent -- for three or more consecutive years.

Of the winners, the DeWitt hospital was one of only 12 hospitals to receive the award for consistently high patient satisfaction in the Emergency Room.

Press Ganey is a nationally recognized company that partners with health care facilities to measure customer satisfaction and improve their quality of health care. More than one-third of U.S. inpatient hospitals currently partner with Press Ganey.

“DeWitt has continued to maintain a high level of patient satisfaction over the past three years,” said Dr. Melvin F. Hall, President and CEO of Press Ganey. “Their efforts benefit the DeWitt region and lead to improved delivery of health care.”

Jeff Cooper, CEO of Genesis Medical Center, DeWitt, and Theresa Brock, Assistant Administrator and Director of Nursing, credited staff for the high patient satisfaction scores that led to the award.

“We owe this to the hard-working employees who deliver the personalized, compassionate care that sets us apart from other hospitals across the nation,” Cooper said. “They leave a lasting, positive impression and are ultimately responsible for this award.”

Brock added, “Our teams – comprised of physicians, nurses, paramedics,
nursing assistants, unit patient representatives, Lab techs, Radiology techs, and customer service staff – are really driven to give the best care. Despite our high patient satisfaction scores, we’re continually evaluating and looking at ways to improve waiting times and communication between staff and patients and their families.”

Genesis, DeWitt’s award comes on the heels of two other prestigious awards for the rural hospital.

This summer, the hospital earned recognition as one of the nation’s 25 Most Wired rural hospitals from Hospitals & Health Networks. Last month, CEO Jeff Cooper received the Young Executive Achievement Award from the Iowa Hospital Association.

Enhancements to emergency services at the DeWitt hospital have been one of the positive outcomes of the 1997 affiliation with Genesis Health System. A $7 million building project completed in 2000 positioned the hospital to exist far into the future. Among the improvements have been an expanded and refurbished emergency room and a Picture Archiving Communications System that replaced traditional x-ray films with digital images accessed by computer. 
  
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