Local News 8 - November 18, 2014
POCATELLO, Idaho - On Tuesday afternoon, the Portneuf Medical Center's lobby was packed full of people, not patients, waiting to hear the hospital's big announcement.
Hospital administrators, staff members, and physicians lined the room to announce the joint hospital commission has awarded Portneuf the Top Performer in Key Quality Measures award, which is a national title showing the hospital has provided evidence-based interventions that would increase the likelihood of recovery for its patients.
Hospital CEO Dan Ordyna said this is the first time PMC has received this award, which ranks it among the nation's most elite hospitals when it comes to patient care.
"There are only 1,200 hospitals nationwide that have received this recognition and only three other hospitals in the state of Idaho," Ordyna pointed-out. "The key quality measures we are being recognized for are: heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care. There's just quite a bit that people have to do to make sure everyone is safe when they receive care and it takes a huge team to make that happen."
Ordyna said the hospital's emergency room sees roughly 35,000 patients every year, and a significant number of them complain about having chest pain.
Dr. Jacob DeLaRosa is the director of cardiology at the hospital and said this award justifies the years of hard work the staff puts in.
"It's about everything we've been pushing for the past ten years in regards to changing perspectives and changing the safety profiles here in the hospital and even the thinking of everyone who takes care of patients," DeLaRosa said.
In this past year PMC has also invested in a hybrid operating room, which is how doctors are able to perform trans-catheter valve procedures without cutting into the chest. DeLaRosa said this is the only hospital who has this technology in southeastern Idaho.