November 22, 2022
Hi Team –
We’re heading into the Thanksgiving holiday this week with so much to be grateful for, thanks to YOU, our incredible TriHealth Team! The following recap of our latest achievements and continued progress on so many fronts proves there’s nothing we can’t accomplish when we work together as ONE Team, TriHealth STRONG!!
Getting Healthcare Right
Bethesda North Region Shines During Latest Joint Commission Survey
Last week, a team of surveyors from The Joint Commission (TJC) arrived for a week of “on-site” surveys across our Bethesda North Region. TJC surveyors spent time at Bethesda North Hospital, Bethesda Butler Hospital, Hospice of Cincinnati, and our Bethesda Hospital-licensed ambulatory campuses to complete the clinical and life safety portions of Bethesda Hospital's Triennial Accreditation Survey.While it will be several months before we receive the official notification of our TJC accreditation, preliminary survey reports and surveyor feedback indicate loud and clear that, once again, TriHealth and the Bethesda North Region’s teams excelled during this rigorous five-day assessment!
A total of ten surveyors from The Joint Commission conducted the region-wide survey. The initial feedback was overwhelmingly positive from all surveyors who repeatedly complimented team members, clinicians, and leaders for their hard work and dedication to “living our mission” and demonstrating TriHealth’s “values in action” at every encounter! The following are just a few of the surveyors’ glowing comments:
- The hospice surveyors shared that our “bereavement program is phenomenal and the volunteer program is amazing.”
- All surveyors were very complimentary of TriHealth’s culture, commenting that, “Our TriHealth Way practices are clearly making a difference for our patients, their experience and outcomes, and the safety and reliability with which we deliver our care.”
- Both the hospital and hospice surveyors were also impressed with team members’ and leaders’ engagement, teamwork, and pride displayed in caring for patients and each other.
- The Joint Commission Life Safety Code Specialist was extremely impressed with the “Reality Based Disaster Plans” developed at TriHealth.
- Additionally, surveyors applauded TriHealth’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), and our work to improve health equity within the communities we serve.
And if that weren’t enough, there were NO conditional level findings at Bethesda North or Bethesda Butler hospitals!! The most meaningful summary of the survey came from one surveyor who, upon exit, commented to senior leaders, “I would get my care here and I would absolutely work here!” I can’t think of a more ringing endorsement of the success of the survey than that comment!!
A BIG THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to our Bethesda North Region teams, as well as our system team members and physicians who support our regions, for your hard work and dedication to excellence that led to this successful TJC survey! Keep up the great work!!
Three TriHealth Hospitals Achieve “A” Safety Rating
And speaking of excellence, TriHealth’s top priority and sacred responsibility are to ensure we “do not harm” in providing the safest and highest quality care to every patient we serve, always. Together, we are working to fulfill this commitment through our ongoing journey to become a High Reliability Organization. And I’m pleased to share that our hard work and achievements on this journey are, once again, being recognized as among the best in the region! Three of our TriHealth hospitals – Good Samaritan, Bethesda Butler, and McCullough-Hyde – have all achieved the highest “A” safety grade in the latest Leapfrog Survey, and Bethesda North Hospital was awarded a "B,” narrowly missing an “A” during this reporting period. As a system, TriHealth again received the most "A" grades in Cincinnati, outpacing all other local health systems.
Congratulations to all of our hard-working physicians and team members at each of these hospitals whose extraordinary service and unwavering commitment to patient safety resulted in these top scores! Visit Bridge to learn more.
November LDI Recap
Last Tuesday and Wednesday, our 800+ leaders gathered for our first in-person LDI in nearly three years. For nearly one-third of our TriHealth leaders, this was the first-ever LDI they attended in person, following a series of virtual LDIs required as we observed social distancing protocols through more than two years of COVID.
Our 23rd LDI, themed, “Breaking Through: Advancing Our Journey to Mastery,” was focused on further developing our leaders to not only re-master the TriHealth Way, but equally as important, to become even better servant leaders for YOU, our team members! By doing so, we can continue our progress in hardwiring evidence-based service, safety, and reliability practices together as ONE Team, TriHealth STRONG. Because we know – and the evidence shows – when we consistently apply our TriHealth Way tools – every day, in every interaction – it results in improved clinical outcomes, an enhanced patient experience, and a more rewarding and engaging workplace for team members. Remember, success isn’t always about greatness; it’s about consistency, which leads to mastery.
At the LDI, leaders learned and “practiced” how to simplify our proven and powerful TriHealth Way tools – including team member rounding, AIDET + The Promise, and huddles – so they can be used consistently by each of us with greater ease. We also continued the conversation, led by our DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion + Belonging) teams, about the vital importance of creating a culture of inclusivity and belonging in everything we do at TriHealth. This will allow us to better reflect the rich diversity of those we serve, foster greater trust, and break down the barriers that prevent accessibility to high-quality care for all.
Your leaders will be in touch soon to share what they learned and how they will be actively assisting you as we remaster our foundational TriHealth Way best practices, together. Doing so will ensure that ALL of us are equipped to do our best and be our best as we continue on our journey to Get Healthcare Right for each other and for every patient we serve.
COVID Update
Good news! As you can see from the graph to the right, weekly COVID case rates for Hamilton County remain below the CDC mandatory masking threshold for clinical settings – now at 84.53/100,000 population. At TriHealth, we currently have 32 COVID inpatients with two on a ventilator, and ALL counties are again at “Low” transmission levels.
While TriHealth and our region remain relatively stable, some upticks in transmission rates are predicted due to the cooler weather and the new COVID variants that continue to develop, including BQ.5, which appears to be more transmissible, but less severe than the BA.5 variant. We are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to provide weekly updates.
Once again, I want to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy, Healthy, and Blessed Thanksgiving! Because of you, we have so much to be thankful for at TriHealth – and at the top of that list, without question, is YOU, our wonderful TriHealth Team.
Happy Thanksgiving!