UT Medical Center leaders accepted the 2012 Press Ganey Success Story Award on behalf of all UTMC employees at Press Ganey’s annual National Client Conference earlier this month in Washington, D.C.

“This is an outstanding achievement that is only possible when a team of extraordinary people work together every day for something larger than themselves,” said Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, chancellor and executive vice president for biosciences and health affairs, and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. “Thanks to the efforts of all at UTMC, people in northwest Ohio have access to some of the best care available.”

Dr. Scott Scarborough, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, spoke to representatives from hundreds of health-careorganizations about the initiative he led while UTMC senior vice president and executive director.

“I’ve moved over to Main Campus, but I’m so proud of the staff and how far we’ve come as an organization in such a short amount if time,” Scarborough said. “They have worked diligently, especially during the last two years; to be recognized in this way suggests that what they’re doing is really paying off.”

UTMC was one of only nine awardees this year out of the 170 facilities that submitted information about quality improvement initiatives. Press Ganey is the health industry’s recognized leader in health-care performance improvement and works with more than 10,000 health-care organizations and 2,600 hospitals nationwide.

Read the narrative summarizing UT’s journey and click here to watch a video highlighting UTMC’s accomplishments.

“For the community, it’s important to see that an organization of this kind is committed to treating the patient as an individual and ensuring that they have as positive an experience as they can possibly have,” said Patrick Ryan, chief executive officer of Press Ganey, during his visit to UTMC earlier in the year.

“We still have a long way to go, and we’re looking forward to the next level of our work to get there, but it’s nice to have someone recognize you along the way,” said Ioan Duca service excellence officer for the University. “We still have a lot of work to do to get to where we ultimately want to be.”

UTMC leaders say the hospital now plans to begin a concept called “Team Care,” which will bring physicians, residents, medical students, nurses and nurse management together to provide more team-based patient care.

“This is not about any one person; this is not about any one particular charge,” Duca said. “This is about the UTMC family.”

Tags: The University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC)