At Washington County Hospital and Clinics (WCHC), patient safety is an on-going effort.   These efforts are coordinated by the Patient Safety Committee which oversees all activities, including: fire drills, disaster drills, nationwide campaigns, the Iowa Healthcare Collaboration, medication reconciliation, rapid response teams and surgical "time-outs."  

In addition, WCHC has joined a nationwide effort entitled "5 Million Lives Campaign" whose goal is to dramatically reduce incidents of medical harm in U.S. hospitals.   This campaign helps to equip all health care workers with the tools they need to reduce medical harm.   WCHC is currently taking part in the following interventions as a part of this campaign:   reducing surgical complications; delivering reliable, evidence-based care for congestive heart failure and heart attacks; deploying rapid response teams at the first sign of patient decline to avert emergency situations; preventing adverse drug events and preventing surgical site infections.  

In an effort to prevent medication errors, WCHC uses Omnicell equipment, an electronic drug-dispensing unit.  WCHC was one of only three small, under 100 bed, hospitals in the country to be selected and the sole small hospital in the country using Omnicell cabinets.

On a national level, the hospital is measured by criteria that sets standards of care for heart attacks, pneumonia and congestive heart failure.  At the state level, Iowa is on the leading edge of patient safety efforts through the Iowa Healthcare Collaboration (IHC).  Areas monitored through IHC are falls, medication events, infection rates,    c-section rates and staff vaccinations.  WCHC is also benchmarked against other hospitals through the Iowa Hospital Association.

Consumers can help this effort by taking the following five steps:

• Ask questions if you have doubts or concerns
• Keep and bring a list of ALL the medicines you take
• Get the results of any test or procedure
• Talk to your doctor about which hospital is best for your health needs
• Make sure you understand what will happen if you need surgery