The past year has had its share of exciting news with a riveting presidential election and a few advances in medical technology and care. For Memorial Healthcare System, the year brought a stronger commitment to its philosophies regarding family-centered care and “Patient First.”

A reading corner in the play room at the new 12-bed pediatric inpatient unit at Memorial Hospital Miramar.

“At Memorial, we have set high standards and consistently challenge ourselves to provide the highest levels of safety, quality and service at all times,” said Frank Sacco, President and CEO for Memorial Healthcare System. “We are dedicated to improving the health, well-being and, most of all, quality of life for the people entrusted to our care.”

The Nurses’ Station in the pediatric inpatient unit at Memorial Hospital Miramar.

Across the public, non-profit Healthcare System, these philosophies have been exemplified. Memorial Regional Hospital opened its first Patient and Family Resource Center this year, offering business center amenities and a respite for patients’ family members. Memorial Hospital West earned one of the highest levels of recognition a hospital can achieve – Magnet Designation for its excellence in nursing services, awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Other milestones across the Memorial Healthcare System further aligned its culture with Patient First and family-centered care:

• Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital began laying the foundation for an expansion of its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, expected to open in 2009. This expansion will increase the capacity of the NICU to 22 Level II beds and 42 Level III beds.
• Memorial Regional Hospital South instituted a new Concierge Care Service, offering physicians streamlined Emergency Department accessibility for their patients.
• The Women’s Imaging Center at Memorial Regional Hospital and Memorial Hospital West were the first and only facilities in Broward County to receive the Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation from the American College of Radiology.
• Memorial Hospital Pembroke introduced a new Hospitalist program, which provides safe, high-quality short-term care for inpatients whose physician is not available on-site. The hospitalists are board certified and highly credentialed.
• In affiliation with Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Memorial Hospital Miramar opened a new 12-bed Pediatric Inpatient Unit with medical specialists, advance technology and homelike private suites to meet the needs of children from infancy through the teen years.

A mammography tech at Memorial Hospital West prepares to do a digital mammogram on a patient.

In a national study published this year, which combined quality of care and patient satisfaction ratings, Memorial was the third-ranked healthcare system in the United States, and first in Florida.

“This has been a significant year for the Healthcare System in many ways,” Sacco said. “We strongly believe that putting “Patient First” is vital to the culture of all great hospitals.”