• Local health care center earns national distinction
The Silver Hills Health Care Center, owned by Covenant Care, was awarded a 2018 Bronze – Commitment to Quality Award by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. The facility at 3450 N. Buffalo Drive was one of 521 long-term and post-acute care providers in 50 states and the District of Columbia to be recognized with the award.
The award is the first of three distinctions possible through the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program, which honors long-term and post-acute care providers that have demonstrated a commitment to improving the quality of care for seniors and persons with disabilities. Recipient organizations will be honored during AHCA/NCAL’s 69th Annual Convention and Exposition, Oct. 7-10 in San Diego.
“Director of Nursing Madonna Diego and her staff worked hard to earn this award, and I believe the Bronze award is only the beginning,” said Denise Selleck, president and CEO of the Nevada Healthcare Association, of which Silver Hills is a member. “They are a testament to the hard work professionals in this industry do on a daily basis to care for the city’s most fragile citizens.”
The Bronze award exemplifies the dedication a facility and its staff has to positively impact quality of the skilled nursing facilities, said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL.
“I am proud to spotlight our members for their relentless drive to advance our nation’s skilled nursing centers and assisted living communities,” he added.
Implemented by AHCA/NCAL in 1996, the National Quality Award Program is centered on the core values and criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which is also the basis of the metric-based AHCA/NCAL Quality Initiative. The Baldrige program helps organizations across different business sectors use strategies to improve performance and organizational effectiveness.
The award program has three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Providers begin the quality improvement process at the Bronze level, where they develop an organizational profile with fundamental performance elements such as vision and mission statements and key strengths and challenges. Bronze applicants must also demonstrate their ability to implement a performance improvement system. Trained examiners review each application to determine if the center has met the demands of the criteria. Recipients may move forward in developing approaches and achieving performance levels that meet the criteria required for the Silver-Achievement in Quality Award.
“This year’s Bronze award recipients are leading the way for others in the profession pursuing quality care,” said Alana Wolfe, AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Board of Overseers chair. “I commend them on this accomplishment and challenge them to continue making progress in quality improvement.”
• Sunrise receives American Heart Association honor
Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines — Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.
Sunrise Hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“Sunrise Hospital is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Todd P. Sklamberg, CEO of Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”
Sunrise Hospital additionally received the association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.
“We are pleased to recognize Sunrise Hospital for their commitment to stroke care,” said Dr. Eric E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
• Roseman Medical Group opens first location
Roseman Medical Group, the medical practice of Roseman University College of Medicine, has opened its first location, adjacent to Spring Valley Hospital at 5380 S. Rainbow Blvd, Suite 120.
The practice is offering neurology services led by Dr. David Ginsburg, MD. Ginsburg and his medical team specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of the nervous system and neuromuscular disorders. With Ginsburg serving as medical director, the practice also houses Southern Nevada’s second clinic serving patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The Roseman University ALS Clinic at Roseman Medical Group will provide evidence-based, multidisciplinary ALS care and services in a supportive atmosphere with an emphasis on hope and quality of life.
Dr. Mark Penn, founding dean of the College of Medicine explained, “Long-term plans for the Roseman Medical Group practice include expansion into primary care and a variety of medical specialties staffed by College of Medicine faculty physicians and other health care professionals.”
“We are delighted to have Dr. David Ginsburg as Roseman Medical Group’s first practicing physician and as a professor on our faculty,” said Dr. Bruce Morgenstern, Roseman University College of Medicine vice dean for academic and clinical affairs. “Practicing in Southern Nevada since 1994, he brings with him remarkable history of exceptional patient care and clinical research in neurology, with emphasis in neuromuscular diseases like ALS.”
“We are very excited to have a second clinic in Las Vegas,” said April Mastroluca, executive director of the ALS Association Nevada Chapter. “Southern Nevada ALS patients and families will now have another option for ALS care in Las Vegas. We are grateful to Dr. Ginsburg, Roseman University and our clinic team for making this possible.”
Ginsburg received his Doctor of Medicine degree from University of Pittsburgh in 1988. Later, he completed his residency in neurology at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and a subsequent fellowship in clinical neurophysiology. This provided him with an extensive background in neurodiagnostic testing with electroencephalogram and electromyography, and exposure to a large number of patients with neuromuscular disease. This training eventually led to him to lead local multidisciplinary clinics for the Muscular Dystrophy Associationœ and ALS.