Snoqualmie Valley Hospital earns 2011 “Best Hands on Care” Award
Published 10:33 am Friday, November 11, 2011
The Washington State Hospital Association named Snoqualmie Valley Hospital a 2011 recipient of its “Best Hands on Care” awards.
The award is given to hospitals that have attained 100 percent hand hygiene compliance for three consecutive months and passed validation by a secret shopper.
“It is a real achievement for your hospital to win this award and recognize that this is a commitment to safe care which extends to each patient that walks in your door,” WSHA President and CEO Scott Bond wrote in a letter to the hospital.
The award recognizes hospitals for exemplary rates of hand hygiene, evidence based systems of measuring usage of soap and sanitizer, and for the way usage rates compare to the number of patients at the hospital. Winners also had to achieve high rates of health care worker flu immunizations and top marks on a number of infection prevention indicators.
Snoqualmie Valley Hospital’s participation in the hand hygiene campaign is part of a collaborative effort among hospitals throughout Washington State to reduce preventable hospital acquired infections. Proper hand washing or hand sanitizing can reduce the spread of infection by 25 percent and is critical to the prevention of hospital acquired infections, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The award program began in 2005 as the nation’s first statewide effort to bring hospitals together to share strategies for improving hand hygiene. Less than one in ten hospitals in Washington State qualified for the “Best Hands on Care Award” in 2011.
Snoqualmie Valley Hospital provides 24/7 emergency room services plus extended appointment hours for diagnostic imaging and laboratory services. For more information, call (425) 831-2300, email info@snoqualmiehospital.org or visit www.snoqualmiehospital.org.
