ENNIS, TEXAS (Nov. 6, 2020) – Ennis Regional Medical Center (ERMC) today announced that it has been named a LifePoint Health National Quality Leader. This designation recognizes hospitals within the LifePoint Health system that have enrolled in the LifePoint National Quality Program and succeeded in transforming their culture of safety and achieving high standards of quality care, performance improvement and patient engagement.
“Providing quality care for our community has always been a top priority at Ennis Regional Medical Center,” said Robert Rupp, chief executive officer (CEO) of ERMC. “Our team has worked hard to put the right programs and processes in place to constantly evaluate and improve the care we provide, and I couldn’t be more proud that our facility is now a LifePoint Health National Quality Leader. Our dedicated providers, employees, board members and volunteers have created a stronger, more quality-focused hospital that is well-positioned to continue to expand the ways we work to advance our mission of Making Communities Healthier.”
ERMC is a 60-bed acute care facility that has served people in eastern Ellis County for more than 50 years. To achieve LifePoint Health National Quality Leader designation, the ERMC team worked to implement a number of best practices and launch new initiatives to engage patients and families, enhance patient safety and improve quality care.
For example, the hospital team implemented the “Foundational Five” Safety Behaviors, which include conducting daily briefs, debriefs and huddles; using learning boards; and practicing executive patient safety rounding. Executive patient safety rounding helps ensure that leaders at every level of the organization engage with staff, physicians, patients and families about quality and patient safety. The hospital also implemented bedside shift reporting to help ensure clear communication, reduce the risk of errors and maintain consistency of care during shift changes. Bedside shift reporting is an effective method for transferring information from one provider to another, while also involving patients in discussions about their health, progress and treatment plan.
“At LifePoint, quality is truly at the core of our culture and operations, and Ennis Regional Medical Center has gone above and beyond to satisfy the rigorous requirements necessary to be named a LifePoint Health National Quality Leader,” said Victor Giovanetti, FACHE, executive vice president of hospital operations for LifePoint Health. “We are delighted to recognize this high-performing team and commend the many improvements they have made to take even better care of patients and their families.”
When hospitals enroll in the National Quality Program, they begin working with LifePoint Health quality experts to evaluate and strengthen their quality programs and processes. Following an initial evaluation, the hospital creates a plan and begins to employ changes that will help it achieve quality improvement benchmarks and establish long-term solutions to sustain its results.
In addition to evaluating common quality care and patient safety metrics, the LifePoint National Quality Program focuses on foundational elements required to sustain quality care, including committed leadership, systems to ensure continuous performance and process improvement, and a culture dedicated to safety. LifePoint Health National Quality Leader designation denotes those hospitals that have achieved a broad range of criteria in each of these areas and demonstrate a capacity to continuously measure and improve quality and patient safety.
“Achieving this special recognition has been a journey many years in the making,” said Edwina Miner, chief nursing officer (CNO) of Ennis Regional Medical Center. “We’ve spent a great deal of time working closely with our dedicated providers, nurses and team members to evaluate how we can improve patient satisfaction and strengthen the care we provide. Through streamlining processes, forming multidisciplinary teams, pursuing staff certifications in patient safety, constantly assessing our progress, and much more, we have greatly enhanced our culture of safety and teamwork. I’m very proud of what we have achieved and excited to see how we continue to grow in the future.”
About Ennis Regional Medical Center
Ennis Regional Medical Center is truly a community hospital, founded out of the tireless efforts of local people to ensure the future stability of health care excellence in the greater Ennis area.
ERMC is Joint Commission accredited to ensure the highest quality of patient care. The Joint Commission is the accrediting agency that certifies health care organizations and programs in the United States. Joint Commission accreditation is recognized nationally as a flagship symbol of quality that reflects the hospital’s continued commitment to meeting rigorous performance standards. With over 200 employees, the hospital now has 18 local, active physicians in a multitude of specialties. Patients no longer need to drive to Dallas for the much needed medical services we can offer right here in Ennis.
Our facility provides the residents of Ennis and Ellis County with a local health care network designed to meet their diverse medical needs, including Cardiac Rehabilitation, Non-invasive Cardiology (Stress Testing, EKG, Echocardiogram), Chest Pain Center, Emergency Department (Level IV Trauma), ICU Services, Imaging (X-Ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound, Mammography), Laboratory Services, Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, Rehabilitation Services, Medical/ Surgical Inpatient Services and Medical Detox Stabilization Services. To learn more, visit www.ennisregional.com.
