Battle Mountain General Hospital's Kelley Price, chief nursing officer, and Joy Greenhalgh, who is in charge of infection control and employee health, said they were thrilled about the hospital receiving recognition for its programs by getting two awards for which they competed with hospitals across the state.
They said the success of the programs was a collaborate effort that included everyone at the Battle Mountain General Hospital.
"I am very proud of the whole hospital," Price said. "I am happy we received recognition at the state level for our accomplishments. I am very proud of the services we provide here. It's not always easy, all these changes in healthcare."
Greenhalgh added, "Everybody came around and did good teamwork and I'm proud to be a Battle Mountain General Hospital employee. Overall, we came together when we needed to. We do try our best for our patients."
Hospital CEO Phil Hanna said these awards are a result of staffwide efforts.
"So many people, the hospital board, medical staff and hospital staff, have worked hard to create a hospital in Battle Mountain that can be viewed as a leader in rural healthcare in Nevada," he said. "These most recent state awards demonstrate that their efforts are successful."
The Silver Syringe Award was presented to the hospital March 1 from the nonprofit organization, Immunize Nevada, for its vaccination of 100 percent of its staff against the flu this year.
"Any Nevada healthcare provider who offers vaccinations has a shot at winning a Silver Syringe Award, but only the best of the best actually achieve this annual honor," says Immunize Nevada on its website.
BMGH even went so far as to obtain one egg-free shot for an employee who was allergic to eggs.
The policy was mandatory and will continue to be, Price said. Staff who refuse the shot will have to wear masks during flu season from October through May, she added.
The medical staff was on board with wanting the policy to be mandatory, Price said. Last year, flu vaccinations at the hospital were 50 percent.
The only other hospital in the state to have mandatory staff flu shots is Banner Churchill Community Hospital in Fallon.
"I was very pleased (to get the award)," Price said. "It means that we protect our staff and we protect our patients because if we get the flu we could give it to our frail patients. It also protects our families because we are around so much of this stuff we could bring it home."
"We really did work hard to get that," added Greenhalgh. "It was quite an endeavor."
The second award received was the CUSP CAUTI (Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections) Award from the Nevada Hospital Association, congratulating the facility for maintaining zero catheter-acquired urinary tract infections. The hospital has gone for two years without having any catheter-related UTIs, Price said.
According to Health Research and Educational Trust, CAUTIs are the most common type of healthcare-associated infection in U.S. hospitals and account for 35 percent of all such infections.
Greenhalgh accepted the award and gave a short speech at a banquet in Reno Feb. 7. She was in charge of collecting the catheter data every month and submitting it to the NHA.
During the two-year project, the hospital did not insert any catheters in acute or long-term care patients, only ones who were brought to the emergency room.
"We felt very excited because it's every day patient care and the nurses have really taken heed to cause no harm, the whole staff, the doctors, the nurses, the long-term care," Greenhalgh said.
BMGH competed against 200 medical units throughout the state.
Contact Heather Hill at h.hill@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]
