It was a very busy year for Martin Memorial Health Systems, but one that offered new opportunities and promise for the future.

 

While Martin Memorial continued its day-to-day business of providing care for residents of the Treasure Coast, it was also moving in directions that will benefit the organization and the community it serves in the future as well.

 

That includes everything from planning and designing a new acute-care hospital as well as a new comprehensive medical rehabilitation hospital, to implementing a new IT system featuring sophisticated electronic medical records. Martin Memorial also received several awards and accreditations for quality health care.

 

In January, Martin Memorial selected a team to design and build a new hospital in the Tradition development of west Port St. Lucie. The acute-care hospital will feature 90 beds with comprehensive care provided. Construction is scheduled to begin early 2012 and completion in early 2014.

 

Martin Memorial implemented a new system-wide IT project utilizing Epic, going live in early December. The project was an organization-wide endeavor designed to make clinical processes more efficient and effective for patient care.

Martin Memorial and HealthSouth announced that final certificate of need approval was received from the state of Florida for a new 34-bed comprehensive medical rehabilitation hospital in Martin County. Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2012.

 

Martin Memorial was named a Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals award winner for the second year in a row and sixth time overall.

 

Martin Memorial Medical Center was named one of the nation’s top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission. Martin Memorial was recognized based on data reported about evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and children’s asthma.

 

Martin Memorial was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review for overall hospital quality, as well as for its cardiology program. The health system also earned national recognitions for hip and knee replacement, cardiology and overall quality of care. It also was noted as a national Employer of Choice and locally as a Best Places to Work winner for both Martin and St. Lucie counties.

New Programs and Services
Martin Memorial continued to provide sophisticated technology and enhanced medical care programs to Treasure Coast residents. That included:

 

• The opening of the Martin Memorial Wound Center, offering wound care to residents of west Port St. Lucie in a new location.

• Martin Memorial continued to expand its clinical research, featuring two new studies with VGTI Florida, a life sciences organization based in west Port St. Lucie. It also participates in numerous oncology clinical trials through affiliations with Moffitt Cancer Center and Southwest Oncology Group.

• Martin Memorial began using a breast MRI coil, state-of-the-art technology that enhances physicians’ ability to detect and treat breast cancer.