Palmetto General Hospital made a major investment in the facility and care it can provide by expanding the hospital this year and opening the Clinical Decision Unit. This unit provides ongoing patient care, short term treatment, diagnostic testing and assessment. Observation services are commonly ordered for patients who enter the Emergency Department and who require more time for the physician to determine if they need additional inpatient treatment or may be safely discharged. The reason why a patient may be assigned to the CDU is so that they can be stabilized and released within 24 to 48 hours. The patient may need further evaluation before determining if they should be admitted. The patient may also need a longer recovery after an outpatient procedure.

 

Palmetto General Hospital also appointed two new Board members this year to its Governing Board; Dr. Monica Mejia-Acosta and community leader Alex Gonzalez. Dr. Mejia Acosta is Board Certified in Neurology with the United Council for Neurological Subspecialties Certification in Neurocritical Care. Gonzalez is serving as President of the Florida Department of Highway Safety Advisory Board.

 

In May, as part of stroke awareness month, Palmetto General Hospital honored stroke survivors and reunited them with local emergency medical services (EMS) personnel who responded to their stroke emergency and the Stroke and Neuro-Interventional Team they received life-saving care from at the hospital. With a focus on improving patient outcomes, The Comprehensive Stroke Center at Palmetto General Hospital, a member of the Advanced Neuroscience Network, provides rapid and comprehensive care to save lives.

 

Palmetto General Hospital also earned the Best Performance for Door to Needle Time for 2015 and 2016 from the Florida Puerto Rico Collaboration to Reduce Stroke Disparities (FL-PR CReSD). The certificate of achievement recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to the national institutes for neurological disorders.

 

In June, Palmetto General Hospital achieved the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

 

This past summer Palmetto General Hospital’s bariatric surgical center once again achieved the designation of being a Comprehensive Center under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP®), a joint program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). This recognition confirms that Palmetto General Hospital aims to achieve the highest standards for patient safety and quality of care in the greater South Florida area.

 

In addition, Palmetto General Hospital earned an “A” grade hospital safety score from The Leapfrog Group, one of the nation’s leading patient safety advocacy organizations. The hospital received the top score based on its performance in keeping patients safe from preventable medical errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

 

As 2018 quickly approaches, the physicians and staff at Palmetto General Hospital vow to continue their mission to enhance services and maintain the top-notch care that the community has come to expect.