June 21, 2021 – Lee Health has established a new recognition, the High Reliability Award, that will be awarded twice a year to health system employees or teams that demonstrate a passion for delivering safe and high-quality care to our patients. The High Reliability Award is Lee Health’s most prestigious safety and quality recognition and its winners are handpicked by the health system’s chief officer leadership steam for their excellence in leadership, continuous process improvement and cultivating a culture of safety.
The first High Reliability Award has been awarded to Lee Health’s Heart Central team. The Heart Central team monitors the vital signs of all hospitalized patients from centralized sites within each hospital campus 24/7 and provide urgent notification to bedside nurses or emergency response teams.
Heart Central maintains a stellar track record of safety and has experienced zero telemetry-associated serious safety events since the introduction of its process improvement journey over four years ago. System Nursing Director of Heart Central, Kristy Desfosses, and members of her teams at Lee Memorial Hospital, Gulf Coast Medical Center, Cape Coral Hospital and HealthPark Medical Center accepted the award on behalf of their colleagues.
“It is an honor to recognize Lee Health’s Heart Central team with our first ever High Reliability Award. This team exemplifies what it means to create a culture that makes patient safety the top priority. The High Reliability Award recognizes more than just their past accomplishments, but also their commitment to innovating patient care and continual improvement. Creating a safe environment for our patients requires an ever-evolving 24/7 commitment to excellence, and Heart Central has set the gold standard,” said Dr. Stephanie Stovall, interim chief quality & patient safety officer at Lee Health.
Lee Health’s commitment to safety is paramount in the health’s system mission of being a trusted partner, empowering healthy lives through care and compassion. Lee Health has been recognized for its exceptional safety record by national hospital rating organizations. In their last ratings, Lee Health hospitals received straight As for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group and all Lee Health hospitals received four stars from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
About Lee Health
Open since 1916, Lee Memorial Health System is the fourth largest public health system in the United States and the largest community-owned health system in Southwest Florida. With more than 11,000 employees, the system is made up of four acute care hospitals and two specialty hospitals, as well as outpatient centers, walk-in medical centers and primary care and specialty physician offices. An award-winning health care system, it provides regional programs, such as our Trauma Center and Golisano Children’s Hospital, which serve our community members from Tampa to Miami. Visit www.leememorial.org for more information.
