Kansas City, Mo. – St. Joseph Medical Center and its sister organization, St. Mary’s Medical Center, are among seven hospitals in the Kansas City Metro area selected to participate in a national program designed to focus on improved models of care for national reform in health care.
The program, Aligning Forces for Quality Hospital Quality Network, is a quality improvement network of over 130 hospitals aimed to address the need to improve the quality, efficiency and equity of care delivered not only in Kansas City, but also in hospitals across the country. St. Joseph and St. Mary’s Medical Centers are participating with the Kansas City Quality Improvement Collaborative and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated to improving the health and health care of all Americans, to support efforts to improve health care quality.
The program includes three separate quality improvement initiatives aimed at helping hospitals tackle key issues like racial and ethnic disparities, time spent in Emergency Departments (EDs) or readmissions of patients recently discharged. The Carondelet Health facilities have teams participating in all three areas.
“Our nation is always seeking ways to improve patient care,” says Scott Kashman, CEO, St. Joseph Medical Center. “Our selection into this program is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our staff and physicians, and our continued focus on efficiency, effectiveness, and quality outcomes.”
Hospital teams in the program will pilot and test quality improvement strategies over an 18-month period. In all, 17 regions of the country have been designated as part of Aligning Forces. In each region, a range of efforts to help doctors, nurses and hospitals improve quality – as well as engage consumers to be better patients – is being tested.
St. Joseph Medical Center is an acute care facility of Carondelet Health (CarondeletHealth.org) which also includes St. Mary’s Medical Center, three long-term care facilities and home care services. Carondelet Health is dedicated to the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. Our commitment to human dignity compels us to provide compassionate, quality healthcare for body, mind and spirit, with a special concern for the poor. We are responsible stewards serving the needs of all people from conception to death. Carondelet Health is a member of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest Catholic and nonprofit health system.