Two Saint Joseph Health System Facilities Earn National Excellence Through Insight Awards For Outstanding Employee, Patient Satisfaction

(I-Newswire) February 17, 2010 - Lexington, KY --- Saint Joseph Health System continually measures patient, employee and physician satisfaction to gain valuable insight about patients’ experiences, workforce challenges, physician relations and community perceptions of its services. And it doesn’t stop there. The organization focuses on turning insight into action—how to best utilize the research findings to keep raising the bar in the delivery of health care. Three recent national Excellence through Insight awards from HealthStream Research reflect this determination to provide the highest level of health care.

HealthStream Research, the research business group of HealthStream, Inc., has released the results of its latest study (conducted in 2009) that identifies hospitals that provide an outstanding work environment and patient experience. Saint Joseph - London and Saint Joseph East made the list, along with only five other Kentucky hospitals (no other Lexington hospital made the list).

Saint Joseph - London was recognized for “Overall Employee Satisfaction & Engagement” (medium hospital category) and for “Highest Overall Nurse Satisfaction.”

“I’m delighted our staff has been recognized for their overall job satisfaction. We are committed to keeping our employees engaged in their work and retaining our highly skilled individuals. Our staff and physicians are the cornerstone of the nationally recognized quality care that Saint Joseph - London is providing,” said Virginia Dempsey, president of Saint Joseph - London. “With projections of a national health care provider shortage, it is exciting to know the high level of job satisfaction at our hospital. As we move to our new facility in August, each employee takes a personal pride with them for the standard of care they provide to each and every patient.”

Saint Joseph East was recognized for “Overall Patient Satisfaction” in its outpatient-cardiology unit (cardiac cath lab), an honor it received once before in 2008 (reflecting 2007 data).

“Once again, Saint Joseph East’s cath lab has been recognized with this national honor. It reflects the outstanding care provided to our patients on a daily basis,” said Ken Haynes, president of Saint Joseph East. “We are honored to have received this distinction. The cath lab team’s exceptional performance further strengthens our position as a leader in heart care.”

According to Paula Fox, manager of the cardiac cath lab at Saint Joseph East, the unit has built a culture around customer service. “This achievement is remarkable given the unique challenges associated with a cath lab. The commitment of our team has and always will be to provide excellent patient experiences,” she said.

To qualify for an Excellence through Insight award, a hospital must have been a patient or employee satisfaction-tracking client of HealthStream in 2009 and scored in the 75th percentile or higher. Saint Joseph - London and Saint Joseph East were chosen for receiving the highest ratings in satisfaction from among HealthStream Research’s clients, as well as exceeding industry standards.

A formal presentation of the awards will be made during HealthStream’s customer summit, May 19-20, in Nashville, TN. For information about HealthStream, visit www.healthstream.com.

Saint Joseph - London and Saint Joseph East are members of Saint Joseph Health System, a 981-bed, eight-facility health care system that spans central and eastern Kentucky. Saint Joseph Health System is a member of Catholic Health Initiatives, the nation’s second-largest Catholic health care system. Visit www.SaintJosephHealthSystem.org for further information.

About Saint Joseph Health System:
By combining the technology, services, expertise and caring of eight of the best health care facilities in the region, everyone in every community we serve benefits. Together as Saint Joseph Health System, we can provide more state-of-the-art care reaching out to more communities, more specialists able to serve more patients, and more of the latest technology.

Company Contact Information
Saint Joseph Health System
Kevin Smith
1 Saint Joseph Drive
40475
Phone : 859-313-1000