2014 – Another Year of Great Accomplishments Moving Towards Our Vision

2014 was a year of tremendous accomplishments for the GBMC HealthCare System.  The end of the calendar year is a good time to reflect on our work towards our vision. How much have we progressed in becoming truly patient-centered? What have we done to make it more likely that  every patient, every time, gets the care we want for our own loved ones?

Here are some of our accomplishments in 2014:

•    Lean Daily Management (LDM) continues to be a success story.  LDM has generated many, many improvements throughout our system. We have reduced blood-borne pathogen exposures to our workforce and nearly eliminated splash injuries to the eye because we are now reliably wearing protective eyewear when we should. The average ED patient now waits 90 fewer minutes to get to an inpatient bed.  We beat our goal of having 10 serious safety events in FY14 and had only six. We have only had one in the first 5 months of this fiscal year! We won’t stop until we get to zero, but we are on our way! You may remember the “not so good old days” in fiscal 2012 when we had 20 serious safety events.
•    Our fantastic volunteer auxiliary again contributed thousands of hours of service and  high success in fundraising through our Nearly New sales. Our Foundation ran a spectacular Legacy Chase steeplechase event that showcased our HealthCare system to the community.
•    Gilchrist Hospice Care celebrated its 20th Anniversary and along with Gilchrist Greater Living continued their spectacular work and truly led the region in compassionate, evidence-based care to seniors and those at the end of life. Their year culminated in an outstanding outpouring of support from the community at the 2014 Holly Ball.
•    138 members of GBMC’s medical staff in 60 different specialty areas were recognized in the annual Baltimore Magazine Top Docs issue. Once again, we had more physicians recognized than any other community health system in the region!  We are so fortunate to have outstanding surgeons, internists, pediatricians, family physicians, and other wonderful specialists.
•    We celebrated the opening of the new office of Family Care Associates.  Many are  talking about patient-centeredness but GBMC is delivering it NOW!  I am pleased to see a team of doctors, nurses, and technicians really design care that is less wasteful, delivers better outcomes, and is more fun to be involved in.
•    GBMC is now embarking on its 50th Anniversary and we’re excited to tell the world about our history and where we’re going in the future as we deliver on our vision.

Some of our other accomplishments in 2014 included:
•    GBMC HealthCare was selected again as winners of Practice Greenhealth’s 2014 Emerald Partner for Change Award and with the organization’s first Circle of Excellence Award for environmentally preferable purchasing.
•    In June, over 400 employees, patients and volunteers participated in our Pink Glove Dance. Because of their efforts WE WON the national Pink Glove Dance competition. As a result, our community partner, The Red Devils, received $10,000 to support their work helping breast cancer patients and families.
•    Bonnie B. Stein, a member of the Board of Directors since 2009, was appointed as the Chair of the Board of Directors replacing Harry S. Johnson following the completion of his three-year term.
•    We celebrated the official opening of the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation Center for Clinical Care and Research.  Under the leadership of Dr. Clair Francomano, the Center will provide comprehensive clinical care for patients, professional education and cutting-edge research.
•    For a second time, we received the Delmarva Foundation Excellence Award for outstanding performance in inpatient care.  To achieve this recognition a hospital must meet specific performance improvement criteria on ten quality measures in two clinical services: medicine and surgery. 
•    Dr. Janet Sunness received the 2014 Envision Award in Low Vision Research and was recognized for her expert work and as a prolific clinician-researcher in the area of maculopathy and for her significant contributions, most specifically in the understanding of and defining the parameters in clinical trials for the “dry” form of advanced age related macular degeneration.
•    Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) was designated as a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic (COEMIG) Surgery by the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL), the leading association of minimally invasive gynecologic surgeons, and Surgical Review Corporation (SRC).
•    Our Primary Stroke Center was once again recognized by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s (AHA/ASA) Get With The Guidelines® (GWTG) program for our commitment to quality patient care.  Additionally, we achieved the Target: Stroke Honor Roll designation for meeting specific achievement levels and for improving stroke care.  This is the first year we have received this award for outstanding teamwork in our ED to identify and treat Acute Ischemic Stroke patients safely and rapidly.
•    GBMC was named Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® for 2013 by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America.  Less than one-third of U.S. hospitals earn this distinction.
•    Chairman of Radiation Oncology, Dr. Robert K. Brookland, was awarded the Martin D. Abeloff Award for Excellence in Public Health and Cancer Control and his department was also awarded a three-year term of re-accreditation in radiation oncology as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR).
•    Linda A. Walsh, MD, a GBHA board member and family physician at Jarrettsville Family Care, was recently awarded the 2014 Humanitarian Award by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

So I think the evidence is clear. GBMC HealthCare made great progress towards our vision in 2014! We have many, many people to thank for this. Our doctors, our nurses, other clinicians, and all of our non-clinical employees have done a fabulous job.  And lastly, we must thank our patients – you are the reason we do what we do. We are honored and grateful that you have chosen GBMC for your care.  

I realize that these things only represent a small fraction of what the GBMC family did in 2014 to move us closer to our vision. All I can say is thank you! I look forward to all of our accomplishments to come in 2015. What others do you want to mention? Please share your thoughts below.

Influenza A Outbreak
Let me also thank everyone who has been resilient through our recent increase in the number of patients served during the Influenza A outbreak. Special thanks go out to everyone that works in the ED and on inpatient medical units.

Best wishes to you and your loved ones for a Happy and Healthy 2015!!