Minnesota Hospital Association

Newsroom

January 25, 2016

MHA Newsline: Jan. 25, 2016

In this issue 

Abbott Northwestern Hospital certified registered nurse anesthetist receives Minnesota Hospital Association’s Good Catch for Patient Safety award

An Abbott Northwestern Hospital certified registered nurse anesthetist has received the award that recognizes hospital professionals who demonstrate their commitment to keeping patients safe by speaking up to prevent a potential patient safety issue.   

Sounally Lehnhoff, CRNA, Northwest Anesthesia, accepted the quarterly Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) Good Catch for Patient Safety award at a presentation on Jan. 15.   

Lehnhoff took action during a preoperative timeout when she noted that the patient’s blood bank band had the wrong patient name and did not match the patient’s ID band. Surgery was delayed an hour so a new blood type test and crossmatch could be conducted. Lenhoff was very thorough with her consent verification and patient identification, using the “stop the line” process appropriately to guarantee patient safety.   

“It is because of actions taken every day by dedicated professionals like Sounally that Minnesota hospitals continue to be front-runners in patient safety,” said MHA Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety Tania Daniels. “Sounally’s efforts remind us what a difference one person can make to keep patients safe.”   

The Good Catch for Patient Safety program recognizes hospital professionals for actions that protect patients. All Good Catch for Patient Safety award winners are entered into the running to receive the quarterly Good Catch for Patient Safety award. Quarterly winners are eligible to be honored with the annual Good Catch for Patient Safety award presented at the MHA Annual Awards banquet in May.   

Individuals seeking to nominate an employee or team for the award can visit the MHA website to complete a nomination form.   

For more information, visit the MHA website or contact Tania Daniels, 651-603-3517, or Rahul Koranne, M.D., senior vice president for clinical affairs and chief medical officer, 651-659-1445. return to top   

Grand Itasca’s innovative clinic transforms view of health care

Imagine you’re experiencing flu-like symptoms during a workout at your local gym. You hop off the treadmill, grab some water and cool down. You know your congestion and muscle aches aren’t a result of your workout, so you feel you should get your symptoms checked out. 

If only there was a full health care clinic on-site at your gym where you could easily receive medical attention. 

That is the reality at the Itasca County Family YMCA in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Open for less than one year, the primary care clinic inside the YMCA is staffed five days a week with a family medicine doctor, nurse, lab technician and registration staff, all from Grand Itasca Clinic & Hospital. The care team is working beyond the hospital’s four walls to integrate health care into a new kind of environment. 

Rather than having community members focus on getting healthy when they’re already sick, Grand Itasca partnered with the Itasca County Family YMCA and the city of Grand Rapids to build a clinic that would foster stronger physician-patient relationships in new and engaging ways, changing the way patients receive care.   

To learn more about how Grand Itasca Clinic & Hospital is engaging patients beyond the exam room, visit the Minnesota's Hospitals: Strengthening Healthy Communities website.    

Like the Minnesota’s Hospitals Facebook page to get regular updates on how Minnesota’s hospitals work beyond physical walls to strengthen the health of Minnesotans and our communities. return to top   

MHA welcomes new members to Board of Directors

MHA welcomes several new members to its Board of Directors. MHA is governed by a 30-member board of directors representing hospital leaders from across the state, including nine standing directors, five at-large directors, six regional directors, five trustee directors and five ex-officio and officer directors. The board establishes and implements policies and decisions to advance the delivery of health care and health care policy in Minnesota and on the national level. Thanks to the following new directors for their commitment to advancing health care in Minnesota:   

Regional Director
Region 4

Barbara Walczyk-Joers
President and CEO
Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, Saint Paul   

At-Large Director
Steven Underdahl
President and CEO
Northfield Hospital   

Trustee Director
Mitchell Kilian
Trustee Chair
Ridgeview Medical Center, Waconia 

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Coach Jerry Kill to present closing keynote at Healthcare Leadership Institute

The 2016 Healthcare Leadership Institute will be held March 9-11 at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West in Plymouth. For more information or to register, download the conference brochure or visit the MHA website.   

Former Gopher football coach Jerry Kill will present the closing session at the Healthcare Leadership Institute. During his presentation, “Teamwork, Commitment and Vision,” Kill will share with participants how succeeding with staff and a team requires high values, commitment and a sense of working together to create an environment of doing what is right and enjoying the journey along the way.   

Kill was head coach of the University of Minnesota Gopher football team from 2010 through Oct. 28, 2015, when he resigned due to health reasons. As coach, Kill took the team to heights not seen in recent years, including Minnesota’s first Jan. 1 bowl game since 1962. In 2014, Kill was selected the Big Ten’s Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year by the conference’s coaches and the Dave McClain Coach of the Year by the media who cover the Big Ten. He was nominated for the 2015 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. return to top   

Accountable Health Communities funding opportunity available

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 5 announced a new funding opportunity of up to $157 million to test whether screening beneficiaries for health-related social needs and associated referrals to and navigation of community-based services will improve quality and affordability in Medicare and Medicaid.   

The five-year program, called the Accountable Health Communities model, is the first Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center model to focus on the health-related social needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, including building alignment between clinical and community-based services at the local level. The goal of this model is that beneficiaries struggling with unmet health-related social needs, such as housing instability, hunger and interpersonal violence, are aware of the community-based services available to them and receive assistance accessing those services.   

Eligible applicants are community-based organizations, health care provider practices, hospitals and health systems, institutions of higher education, local government entities, tribal organizations and for-profit and not-for-profit local and national entities with the capacity to develop and maintain a referral network with clinical delivery sites and community service providers.   

CMS will award, through a competitive process, renewable one-year cooperative agreements to successful applicants. Applications will be accepted until Thursday, March 31. Interested applicants may submit a non-binding letter of intent until Monday, Feb. 8. To learn more and apply, visit the CMS websitereturn to top