Mercy Medical Center Notes Many Achievements in 2006

Mercy Medical Center earned several national awards and honors in 2006. Pictured with the awards are, from left, President and CEO Paul Dougherty; Deb Green, R.N., Intensive Care; Dr. David Daniels, a Mercy hospitalist; Lee Ann Graack, a vascular interventional technologist; Robin Hardersen, a radiologic technologist for Mercy Heart Center; and Sharon Blanche, executive director of Mercy Heart Center.

Mercy Medical Center—Sioux City marked an eventful year of community collaboration, national honors, and clinical progress in 2006.

The year marked a change in leadership at Sioux City’s busiest hospital when Paul Dougherty became Mercy’s new president and chief executive officer on May 1.

Prior to coming to Sioux City, Dougherty was president and CEO of Deaconess Hospital & Health Care Corporation, a 340-bed acute care hospital on two campuses in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Dougherty’s appointment as Mercy’s CEO followed the departure of Peter Makowski, who left to become executive vice president and chief operating officer at Mercy Medical Center—Des Moines.

Mari Kaptain-Dahlen, then Mercy’s vice president of regionalization, served as interim president and CEO from the time of Makowski’s departure to the time of Dougherty’s appointment. In September, Kaptain-Dahlen was appointed Mercy’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Enhanced partnership
Last April, Mercy Medical Center and Siouxland Surgery Center announced an enhanced partnership between the two organizations that increased Mercy’s share of ownership in the hospital in Dakota Dunes from 6% to 40%.

Mercy was one of the initial partners in Siouxland Surgery Center when it was established in 1994. Other shareholders in the Dakota Dunes based hospital include more than 40 physicians representing the specialties of anesthesia, pain management, neurosurgery, orthopedics, general surgery, plastic surgery, podiatry, gastroenterology, obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), and ear, nose and throat (ENT).

Mercy Medical Center’s increased ownership interest in Siouxland Surgery Center followed what hospital officials described two-year dialogue that reflected a growing trend nationally that seeks to give patients more choices for their medical care while also encouraging greater collaboration among healthcare providers.

Later in the year, Mercy announced a major initiative to protect as many young women as possible from cervical cancer by ensuring they have access to a new vaccine.

Mercy’s effort to make sure all young women between the ages of 9 and 26 in the Siouxland area can get the series of three Gardasil vaccinations regardless of their insurance coverage or their ability to pay for the shots is being supported by a $500,000 gift from Siouxland area businessman Mark Nylen and his wife, Mary Ellen.
Judging from news headlines during the past year, Mercy’s regional and national reputation as a provider of world-class health care became even more prominent.

National recognition
In April, Mercy Medical Center was named in an independent national research study as a recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety, according to HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare ratings company.

Mercy is the only western Iowa hospital to receive the Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient SafetyTM in 2004, 2005 and 2006. This distinction ranks Mercy among the top 5% of the nation’s hospitals for patient safety outcomes. Only 41 hospitals in the country have received the Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety in each of the last three years.

In September, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa named Mercy Medical Center a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care. Blue Distinction is a nationwide program that creates an unprecedented level of healthcare transparency for consumers and providers.

A new comprehensive study released in October by HealthGrades ranked Mercy number one in Iowa for vascular surgery services and for clinical excellence in cardiac interventional procedures including angioplasties and stent placement. Mercy was also named a recipient of HealthGrades 2007 Specialty Excellence Awards for vascular surgery and cardiac care. The hospital ranks among the top 10% of the nation’s 5,000 hospitals for overall cardiac services and vascular surgery services.

According to the latest HealthGrades study, Mercy received five-star ratings for coronary bypass surgery, coronary interventional procedures, peripheral vascular bypass surgery, and joint replacement surgery.

Cardiologists, emergency physicians and other healthcare professionals at Mercy Medical Center continue to achieve some the best statistical outcomes in the nation for early heart attack care. Statistically, 85% of Mercy’s heart attack patients benefit from percutaneous coronary intervention within 90 minutes of arrival at the hospital. In fact, recent data shows the average door-to-dilation time at Mercy Heart Center was just 65 minutes.

Mercy’s Emergency Department has also posting some of the best patient wait times in the country. Mercy averaged 12 minutes from arrival to triage, while the national average was 37 minutes. The hospital’s average time from patient arrival to the time when a physician sees them in an exam room was just 27 minutes. The national average was 40 minutes.

Other highlights

Among other highlights noted at Mercy Medical Center in 2006:

• Mercy doubled the size of its sleep lab to accommodate a growing need for such specialized services. In 1988, Mercy was the first area hospital to establish a sleep lab.
• Mercy adopted a new method of serving patient meals last summer that has already yielded greater patient satisfaction while also giving nursing staff members more time to spend on direct patient care.
• Mercy took a proactive approach in educating Siouxland area residents about the importance of keeping accurate information about the medications they are taking with a campaign that centered on medication reconciliation.
• In October, Mercy welcomed 3,000 Siouxland women to Women’s Night Out. The yearly event, which seeks to promote the health and well being of women in a luxurious, experiential fashion, has proven extremely popular. The event was expanded to two nights this year. Nevertheless, Siouxland women scooped all of the available tickets in just two days.
• The Mercy Medical Center Foundation’s 2006 Fall Gala raised a record $185,000 to benefit improvements to the hospital’s intensive care unit. A record crowd of 500 patrons and supporters attended the Nov. 4 fundraising event.
• The American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation recertified the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at Mercy.
• The National Committee for Quality Assurance and the American Diabetes Association recognized four Mercy physicians, Dr. Sharon Vande Vegte, Dr. Greg Halbur, Dr. Jeff Kellogg, and Dr. Heather Longval, for providing quality care to their patients with diabetes.

“It was a very exciting, rewarding year for the entire Mercy family as the hospital celebrated a number of innovations and honors,” says Paul Dougherty, Mercy’s president and CEO. “We were blessed to realize many accomplishments and great progress, thanks to the expertise and dedication of our staff members and physician partners.”

“As we begin a new year, we will continue to make every effort to raise the quality of care available to Siouxland residents to an even higher standard,” Dougherty adds. “With that as our objective, we can perhaps look forward to celebrating and giving thanks for those exciting innovations and milestones yet to come.”