HQI Earns National Quality-Improvement Leadership Award
The American Hospital Association (AHA) has named Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) the recipient of the 2017 Dick Davidson Quality Milestone Award for Allied Association Leadership. Announced on July 12, the award is given to state, regional or metropolitan hospital associations that demonstrate leadership and innovation in quality improvement and contribute to national health care improvement efforts.
“These things don’t just happen,” Hospital Council of Northern and Central California CEO Art Sponseller said in a congratulatory message to Julie Morath, HQI’s president and CEO. “It takes teamwork and leadership and results. And, what’s clear is, you and your team achieve amazing results.”
HQI was created in 2013 through a partnership between the California Hospital Association and the state’s three Regional Associations — HASC, the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California and the Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties.
HQI was recognized for its multiple quality improvement initiatives — including CHPSO, the Hospital Improvement and Innovation Network, the Partnership for Patient Experience and the HealthCare Reliability Organizing Initiative — that have resulted in improved patient safety and clinical outcomes and enhanced the experience of care at hospitals throughout California.
Specific evidence-based improvements include substantial reductions in central line-associated blood stream infections, early elective deliveries and medically unnecessary Caesarean-section births, patient falls, surgical site infections and ventilator-associated conditions.
The award is named for AHA President Emeritus Dick Davidson, who strongly promoted the role of hospital associations in leading quality improvement during his tenure as AHA president and as president of the Maryland Hospital Association.
HQI is based in Sacramento, but has staff working throughout the state — including Los Angeles-based regional quality network vice president Julia Slininger.
Contact:
Julia Slininger
(213) 538-0766
jslininger@hqinstitute.org