Morris Hospital Employee Receives Safety Champion Award
June 6, 2018, Naperville, Ill.— The Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) Patient Safety Organization (PSO) awarded Valerie Skroch, lead physical therapist at Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers, with the MAPS PSO Patient Safety Champion award for preventing patient harm. MAPS PSO is an Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA) company.
The MAPS PSO committee selected Skroch because of her efforts to improve patient safety organization-wide. She is a part of Morris Hospital’s Safe Patient Handling Committee and works on its Fall Tips Project. Skroch has been involved in selecting the organization’s new fall risk assessment tool, updating its fall prevention policy and developing a safe patient handling policy.
In addition, Skroch has been instrumental in helping the hospital become a minimal-lift facility and adopt evidence-based practices to improve patient outcomes. Her passion for patient safety also has led to a Progressive Mobility project for ICU patients. With Skroch facilitating, the ICU team aims to standardize its approach toward sedation mobility and management of ventilated patients.
“Val is an excellent patient advocate and committed to improving patient safety for the benefit of each individual patient,” said Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers President and CEO Mark Steadham. “She exemplifies the high standards we set for patient care at Morris Hospital. We’re very proud of Val for receiving the MAPS PSO Patient Safety Champion award.”
As Morris Hospital’s lead physical therapist, Skroch coordinates the inpatient physical therapy team, evaluates and treats acute care patients, ensures quality skilled services are provided, and guides the team in developing new services and programs.
MAPS PSO Patient Safety Champion Program
Federally certified since 2010, MAPS PSO assists its members with the important work of reducing adverse events so they can provide a safer healthcare experience for their patients. As part of its commitment to member excellence, MAPS PSO established the Patient Safety Champion Program to reward “good catches” at member facilities.
“For the last eight years, MAPS PSO has been partnering with healthcare providers from across the state to save lives,” said IHA President and CEO A.J. Wilhelmi. “Through the Patient Safety Champion Program, IHA and MAPS PSO can continue to improve patient safety and support organizations that are committed to excellence.”
MAPS PSO has a vital role in coordinating adverse event reporting and aggregating the data to drive collaboration and change. MAPS PSO members use this information to guide their efforts to improve care. MAPS PSO members include 73 Midwestern health systems, hospitals, critical access hospitals, physicians groups, long-term care and specialty outpatient clinics. Each benefits from the security of a protected PSO environment to collect, analyze and learn from adverse event data and best practices.
MAPS PSO also works with nationally recognized leaders in patient safety on research, data mapping and data collection to simplify the data submission process. To learn more about MAPS PSO, visit www.alliance4ptsafety.org.
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About the Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety
The Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) is a federally listed Patient Safety Organization (PSO) aligned with the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA). Since 2010, its mission has been to promote the adoption of best practices by Midwest healthcare organizations to improve the delivery of safe and quality care to all patients. As a non-profit organization, MAPS strives to position itself as the leading provider-sponsored PSO. Based in Naperville, Illinois, MAPS provides the opportunity to exceed standards of quality of care by providing expert clinical staff and strong programs and services focused on PSO education, strong patient-focused operations and performance improvement. Like MAPS on Facebook. Follow MAPS on Twitter.
About IHA
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association, with offices in Naperville, Springfield, Washington, D.C., and Chicago advocates for Illinois’ more than 200 hospitals and nearly 50 health systems as they serve their patients and communities. IHA members provide a broad range of services—
not just within their walls, but across the continuum of healthcare and in their communities. Reflecting the diversity of the state, IHA members consist of nonprofit, investor-owned and public hospitals in the following categories: community, safety net, rural, critical access, specialty and teaching hospitals, including academic medical centers. For more information, see www.team-iha.org. Like IHA on Facebook. Follow IHA on Twitter.
About Morris Hospital and Healthcare Centers
Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers has been improving the health of area residents since 1906. Located 55 miles southwest of Chicago in Morris, Illinois, the 89-bed Morris Hospital serves residents of Grundy County and parts of Will, LaSalle, Livingston, and Kendall counties and is the largest employer in Grundy County. Along with the main hospital campus in Morris, services are provided at the Diagnostic & Rehabilitative Center in Morris, the Radiation Therapy Center, the Morris Hospital Ridge Road Campus in Channahon, the Morris Hospital Yorkville Campus, and physician offices in Braidwood, Channahon, Coal City, Dwight, Gardner, Marseilles, Mazon, Morris, Newark, Ottawa and Yorkville. All together, Morris Hospital offers services in 25 locations. For more information go to www.morrishospital.org.
