Annual Report 2014 Our mission. To excel at the delivery of health care to our community. Our vision. To become the finest community-based regional medical center in Southern California. Huntington Memorial Hospital at a glance. 1892 Year founded 146,023 Outpatient visits 28,773 Inpatient admissions 3,283 Babies born 1,423 Trauma cases All data for 2014. A letter from Stephen A. Ralph President and CEO Dear friends: Huntington Memorial Hospital has built a reputation for excellence in health care and our achievements in 2014 raised the bar still further. I am so proud to work with the talented healthcare professionals, staff and volunteers who contribute to successful patient out- comes and strong patient satisfaction. As a result of their efforts, Huntington Hospital is ranked among the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide by Healthgrades®. In addition to achieving recognition for the quality of care hospital-wide, we also, in 2014, received accolades from the most respected accrediting and rating agencies in the nation for excellence in a variety of specialty care areas, including trauma, stroke, cardiac, orthopedic and cancer care, as well as bariatric surgery, and others. In this year’s annual report, you will read about some of the hospital’s accomplish- ments in 2014. You will also find day-in-the-life narratives that introduce you more personally to just a few of the people who impact — or have been impacted by — the hospital’s care. The Huntington Hospital story is one of quality, driven by a focus on the patient as the center of the care experience, and by commitment to the very best of clinical out- comes. It is a story of caregiver excellence, involving physicians, nurses, therapists, technicians and many others who excel at the delivery of care to our community. It is a story of innovation, as we introduce the latest and best advances in facilities, technolo- gies and care models, in support of superlative care. It is a story of community health, of going the extra mile to prevent illness even before it happens — and, in the process, building community well-being. As always, it is also a story about you: Excellence in medicine at Huntington Hospital not only helps ensure that you and your family have access to the best of care; it is possible because of support from dedicated friends like you. Thank you for being a part of our story. Annual Report 2014 1 2 Annual Report 2014 Monica Shima (left) is a mobile intensive care nurse (MICN) at Huntington Memorial Hospital. MICNs answer radio calls from paramedics en route to the hospital, allowing care to begin even before the patient arrives. Catch a glimpse of Monica at work, on page 7. Patient-centered care. Enhancements at Huntington Memorial Hospital are driven by two key goals: patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. These are the ultimate quality indicators. Delivering high-quality medical care means placing patients at the epicenter of the care process. Annual Report 2014 3 A volunteer provides discharge assistance for a patient leaving Huntington Memorial Hospital’s Nan and Howard Schow Emergency & Trauma Center. 4 Huntington Hospital Notable features of our Emergency & Trauma Center A four-fold A Rapid Care Wing serving patients with less Technologies and increase serious health conditions. (This in turn allows us to equipment designed to in trauma- further expedite care for individuals with the most prevent the spread of care capacity. urgent care needs.) infectious disease. Recognized among the best Leading independent healthcare ratings organization Healthgrades® recently issued a report identifying Prepared for Huntington Memorial Hospital as one of America’s best all scenarios hospitals. Healthgrades defines “America’s best” as the In the event of a major disaster, such 50 top-performing hospitals among 5,000 hospitals in as an earthquake, terror attack or other the United States. This underscores our continued focus emergency, Huntington Memorial on high-quality, patient-centered care and means we are Hospital’s Nan and Howard Schow considered one of the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide. Emergency & Trauma Center is Healthgrades® also cited a number of specialties equipped to care for multiple patients at the hospital as particularly high-performing. In fact, simultaneously. (See page 43 for more Huntington Hospital was ranked among the top 100 about our collaboration with community hospitals nationally in several specialty areas. partners to ensure we are prepared to respond at any time.) Though the Here when you need us likelihood of an Ebola patient presenting In 2014, Huntington Memorial Hospital completed the at the hospital is extremely low, we are significant expansion of our Nan and Howard Schow prepared to respond to any infectious Emergency & Trauma Center. With more than double the disease. A robust infection-control system number of treatment beds (increased from 21 to 50), the and staff who are specially trained to care center houses the largest emergency department and the for patients with communicable diseases only trauma center in the San Gabriel Valley. Care here help promote safety. In 2014, we provided is supported by advanced technologies including cardiac significant training and education (to our monitoring in every room and centrally located radiology caregivers and to our community’s first suites for prompt diagnostic testing. responders) specifically with regard to These and other aspects of the new facilities — along Ebola response. It is just one of the many with the availability of dedicated emergency-medicine ways in which we stand prepared. pharmacists and social workers — are helping to enhance care and comfort for patients and their loved ones. Annual Report 2014 5 2014 by the numbers 65,679 Number of patients who received care in our Emergency & Trauma Center. 1,444 Reduced wait times Number of patients who With the expansion now complete, Huntington Memorial Hospital is able received trauma care. to accommodate more than 90,000 patient visits annually through our Nan and Howard Schow Emergency & Trauma Center. Thanks not only to -36% greater capacity, but also to various quality-improvement measures, “We saw Time from patient arrival to a significant reduction in wait times in the latter part of 2014,” says Karen examination decreased by Knudsen, RN, manager, emergency department. more than 36 percent.* * Data represents a comparison of the periods January to In case of emergency… September (Q1 – Q3) and The Elsa and Tom Grether Police and Medical Services Workroom is located October to December (Q4). within our Nan and Howard Schow Emergency & Trauma Center. It plays an important role when emergencies arise. Here, our mobile intensive care nurses help guide care, by communicating with paramedics as patients are en route to the hospital. In response to an increase in paramedic calls in 2014, we expanded our mobile intensive care staff and our radio capacity, amongst other measures. STANLEY M. KALTER, MD SUSAN THOMPSON, RN BRANDON LEW, DO Medical director, Manager, trauma & disaster services Incoming medical director, emergency department emergency department “In recent years, we have seen a “Huntington Memorial Hospital is dramatic increase in the volume of “Community support has helped make now home to the largest emergency patients presenting at the Emergency our Emergency & Trauma Center a department and the only trauma & Trauma Center for trauma care, world-class facility, delivering lifesaving center in the San Gabriel Valley. Our including motorcycle or bicycle care using the latest treatments and new facilities and advanced practices crashes, car accidents, falls and more. technologies. We’re grateful to all are helping to further improve Our new Emergency & Trauma Center those who help make exceptional lifesaving care for patients has helped to further enhance our emergency care available to in our region.” capacity to treat patients with the our region.” most urgent care needs.” 6 Huntington Hospital Today, Huntington Memorial Hospital is one of just 21 hospitals in Los Angeles County that collaborate with emergency medical services to transmit vital medical information (such as electrocardiogram results) from the field, directly to our physicians. As a result of this capability, diagnosis can begin A DAY IN THE LIFE Monica Shima, MICN even before the patient reaches the hospital — and the care team Monica Shima has been a mobile intensive care nurse can prepare to provide prompt (MICN) at Huntington Memorial Hospital for 18 years. treatment upon patient arrival. Below, she provides a glimpse into a typical day for her. My eight-hour shift begins at 7 a.m. so I get up at 5 a.m. My work varies from day to day. On the days I serve as patient flow coordinator, I’m involved in reporting during the change of shift for emergency department nurses, when a lot of important patient information is exchanged. Today, I’m serving as team leader and, along with the other MICNs, I’m responsible for answering radio calls from paramedics en route to the hospital. Our team provides input so the paramedics can begin delivering care even before patients arrive. On a typical day, I handle about five calls over the course of the morning. I take a break for lunch halfway through my shift, at 11:30 a.m., after which I continue to work with paramedics who are bring- ing patients to the Emergency & Trauma Center for care. The issues we see include trauma, heart attacks and chest pain. I usually handle about 10 additional paramedic calls before the end of my shift. In between calls, I spring into action to assist 2014 by the as needed when ambulances arrive at the hospital. numbers Once I’m home, I take my four dogs for a short walk and then hit the gym for a quick workout.