St. Francis Hospital Receives National Recognition

Information via St. Francis Hospital

HARTFORD, CT – Saint Francis Hospital is pleased to announce it has been awarded the 2019 NDNQI® Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality® by Press Ganey. The award recognizes Saint Francis as the top-performing teaching hospital for its excellence in overall performance in nursing quality indicators.

The NDNQI Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality honors hospitals that have made impressive and measurable improvements in nursing performance and patient outcomes. The award is given annually to the top performing organization across 17 quality measures in each of seven categories: academic medical center, teaching hospital, community hospital, pediatric hospital, rehabilitation hospital, psychiatric hospital and international. The highest-ranking hospital in each category receives the award.

“We are incredibly proud to receive this prestigious recognition,” said Kimberlee Richard, M.S.N.,R.N., Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President Patient Care Services, Saint Francis Hospital. “It has always been our top priority to ensure patients are in the safest environment possible when they are in our care, but to be recognized for this work is an honor. In collaboration with our physicians and fellow clinicians, we worked tirelessly to pinpoint any and all areas in which we could improve, implementing the necessary systems to allow us to not only make changes when needed, but to ensure those changes are sustained effectively.”

The work to ensure optimal patient safety is ongoing. Most recently, Richards and her team of nurses and patient care service leaders identified the need to reduce the number of patients who acquired pressure ulcers during their time in the hospital.

“We utilized best practices, made changes to processes, and ultimately reduced the number of patients who suffered a pressure ulcer by 90 percent in our ICUs and 70% overall. More importantly, we have sustained that improvement rate over the course of three years” said Richards. “It’s this kind of attention to detail that we pride ourselves on at Saint Francis. We want every patient to feel confident that from the moment you come through our door you are safe, free from harm, and you are receiving some of the best care in the country.”

The award represents an important recognition from the industry’s leader in measuring, understanding, and improving the delivery of care.

"Congratulations to Saint Francis Hospital for receiving the NDNQI Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality,” said Patrick T. Ryan, Executive Chairman of Press Ganey. “This honor reflects their unwavering commitment to improving the safety, quality, and experience of care. Their hard work and dedication are inspiring, and we are proud to partner with them on our shared mission to reduce patient suffering.”

About Saint Francis Hospital

Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center has been an anchor institution in Connecticut since 1897. Saint Francis, a member of Trinity Health Of New England and Trinity Health, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation. Saint Francis Hospital, a Level 1 Trauma Center, is a 617 bed hospital and a major teaching hospital and the largest Catholic hospital in New England. Other Saint Francis entities include the Comprehensive Women’s Health Center, the Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute, the Curtis D. Robinson Center for Health Equity, the Hoffman Heart and Vascular Institute of Connecticut, the Smilow Cancer Hospital Yale-New Haven at Saint Francis, and Trinity Health Of New England Medical Group. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @SaintFrancisCT