PeaceHealth Peace Island earns national awards for excellence in patient experience

||| FROM BARBARA PONGRACZ LAMB for PEACEHEALTH PEACE ISLAND ||| 

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. – PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center has been recognized with a 2023 Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Award^®, and for the first time, a 2023 Human Experience Pinnacle of Excellence Award^®, by Press Ganey, the national leader in healthcare consumer and workforce engagement.

PeaceHealth Peace Island has earned the Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Award® distinction now seven years in a row specifically for Patient Experience in the Emergency Department. Patient feedback surveys consistently placed the ED in the top 95th percentile or above for each reporting period during the award year. The survey captures patient responses related to communication, wait times, respect and courtesy, patient privacy and pain control.

This is the first time PeaceHealth Peace Island received the Human Experience Pinnacle of Excellence Award® for Patient Experience in two areas, the Emergency Department and Infusion/Chemotherapy Services, which qualified in the Outpatient Services category. This award recognizes health care organizations for demonstrating excellence for a minimum of three consecutive years in patient experience and consumer experience or two consecutive years in employee engagement, physician engagement, and clinical quality performance. Approximately 150 healthcare organizations met rigorous requirements over multiple years to achieve the award in 2023.

Jack Estrada, PeaceHealth Peace Island chief administrative officer, said the awards represent consistent excellence in care, and are an important recognition from the industry’s leader in measuring, understanding and improving the patient experience.

“Our leadership team is in awe of the consistently remarkable work from our ED and Infusion services teammates and so grateful for their unwavering commitment to our mission of treating each person in a loving and caring way,” Estrada said. “Caregivers in both departments work collaboratively to respond to each patient’s needs and consistently deliver safe, compassionate, exceptional care.”

Jack noted that the achievements were the result of hard work and collaboration by caregivers from throughout the medical center, including the inpatient units, cancer care, laboratory, environmental services, patient access, imaging and pharmacy.

“We share this award with the entire Peace Island team, and with our community,” he said.

About PeaceHealth: PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a not-for-profit Catholic health system offering care to communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. PeaceHealth has approximately 16,000 caregivers, a group practice with more than 1,200 providers and 10 medical centers serving both urban and rural communities throughout the Northwest. In 1890, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace founded what has become PeaceHealth. The Sisters shared expertise and transferred wisdom from one medical center to another, always finding the best way to serve the unmet need for healthcare in their communities. Today, PeaceHealth is the legacy of the founding Sisters and continues with a spirit of respect, stewardship, collaboration and social justice in fulfilling its Mission. Visit us online at peacehealth.org.

About PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center: Located in Friday Harbor, Washington, PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center is a 10-bed critical access hospital which also houses an expanded primary and specialty care clinic to serve the San Juan Islands. The hospital is celebrating its 10th anniversary in November of 2022.

About Press Ganey: Press Ganey, the leading Human Experience (HX) healthcare performance improvement company, offers an integrated suite of solutions that address safety, clinical excellence, patient experience and workforce engagement. The company works with more than 41,000 healthcare facilities in its mission to reduce patient suffering and enhance caregiver resilience to improve the overall safety, quality and experience of care. Press Ganey is a PG Forsta company.