Kenmore Mercy Hospital
Connections
News and announcements for associates, patients, and their families. Winter 2018/2019
A Message from Walt Ludwig, President & CEO I’ve just completed my first year as CEO. It definitely went by very quickly for me. Over the past year, I’ve been an administrator, a negotiator, a communicator, and even a patient here. It continues to be an exciting role for me and I hope I am meeting your expectations. Stephanie Fino, PT; Amanda Kowalski, RN; Heide Fiorentino, RT; Beth Anne Rutter, PT; Sue McClure, RN; and Kevin Brandon, RPH, represent a small sampling of our associates who are key to ensuring top ratings.
Hospital Achieves Tenth Leapfrog “A” Kenmore Mercy Hospital continued its streak of top grades from The Leapfrog Group, achieving its tenth “A” in the biannual Hospital Safety Grade Report for Fall 2018. Furthermore, Catholic Health earned the region’s highest overall score in the report with four of its hospitals receiving Western New York’s only “A” grades. The Leapfrog Group strives to promote transparency in healthcare quality reporting, by assigning an “A, B, C, D or F” grade to hospitals across the country. Grades are based on how well a hospital protects patients from medical errors, infections, and other preventable harm. “For every member of our Kenmore Mercy family – from our physicians, nurses, clinical professionals, and support staff, to our volunteers and Foundation board members – quality and patient safety is our top priority,” said Walt Ludwig, president & CEO of Kenmore Mercy Hospital.
As with any new year, there are always new areas of focus and new goals developed. My own goals for Kenmore Mercy Hospital for 2019 include: - Continued improvement in our patient experience. I appreciate everyone’s efforts to work together to ensure every patient feels we are meeting their needs completely and with compassionate care. Our scores equal the national average, but I know we are better than average. - A stronger night shift focus. My goal is for off shift associates to see me and other members of the management team more often and to ensure associates on every shift have the same opportunities to participate in our celebrations and events. - Continued market expansion into the North Tonawanda area and adjacent markets. We’ve shown we can win over an area through participation in their community and providing great service. I believe we have additional opportunities here to continue to grow our patient base - Increase our orthopedic and musculoskeletal business. Though we lost some volume with the recent departure of a busy surgeon, we are developing new relationships with other surgeons, which will give us the opportunity to be even busier than before. - Maintain a closer working relationship with our organized labor partners. This will be a particular focus for me and the management team to ensure we have open communication and respectful dialogue throughout the organization - Have fun! Look for more ways to have fun at work or through our sponsorships like the Riviera Theatre or our new role with the Gateway Harbor Canal Summer Concert series. Though we all work hard, there should also be opportunities for our team to get together in fun and social settings. I look forward to updating you on the progress of these goals throughout the year.