KANSAS CITY, Mo. – President George W. Bush presented Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award on March 9 in a ceremony in the Washington, D.C. area. Saint Luke's Hospital CEO G. Richard Hastings accepted the award.
Also in attendance at the ceremony were 50 Saint Luke's Hospital representatives, including employees, physicians, and board members.
The award ceremony was held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va., and recognized seven 2003 winners in various categories.
Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans notified Saint Luke's Hospital on Nov. 24, 2003, that it had been selected as a recipient of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for 2003 in the category of health care. Recipients were selected from among 68 applicants, seven of which underwent a rigorous evaluation that included about 1,000 hours of review and an on-site visit.
Saint Luke's Hospital is a 629-bed tertiary care hospital offering many special programs and services through a network of physicians representing 57 medical specialties. It is the first Kansas City-based organization ever to win the award.
In his speech at the ceremony, Hastings praised the hospital's employees for Saint Luke's success. “It's simple really – it is all about our people. They use a rare combination of the highest-level medical skill and innate human compassion. Our people deliver outstanding care to our patients and their families while focusing on each patient as a person with spiritual, mental and physical needs. It is this God-given compassion for others that drives our performance excellence. It is my pleasure to accept this incredible award on behalf of the Saint Luke's Hospital family.”
“The Baldrige Award honors the outstanding performances and outstanding accomplishments of American organizations,” said President Bush in a previous statement. “These organizations embody the values of excellence, principled leadership and a commitment to employees, partners, and community. They join an ever growing and diverse family of Baldrige Award recipients that are leading the way to a future filled with progress and prosperity for all Americans.”
Each year, up to three companies in the categories of manufacturing, service, small business, education, and health care are selected for the quality excellence award, which is traditionally presented by the President of the United States. The top honor a U.S. organization can receive for quality management and quality achievement, the Baldrige Award recognizes organizations for their achievements in quality and performance, and raises awareness about the importance of performance excellence as a competitive edge. Criteria for the award include leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management, and business results.
Saint Luke's Hospital will be showcased at Quest for Excellence, the official conference of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, March 28-31, 2004 in Washington, D.C.
Specific Examples of Performance Excellence
In a comprehensive feedback report after the site visit, Baldrige examiners highlighted dozens of specific areas of performance excellence. Following are just a few examples:
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• At a time when many health care organizations are battling employee turnover rates of 20 percent and higher, Saint Luke's Hospital's employee turnover rate is 7 percent, specifically 6.4 percent for nurses. Saint Luke's employee retention has consistently exceeded the Saratoga Institute's median for the past five years and is approaching 90 percent.
• In treating ischemic stroke, a leading cause of death and cause of death and permanent neurologic disability, SLH is leading the nation in the percentage of diagnosed patients receiving tPA (Tissue Plasminogen Activator), a clot-busting drug that helps restore circulation and reduce permanent brain injury. In the second quarter of 2003, 27 percent of SLH stroke patients received tPA versus a national average of 3 percent.
• To determine customer satisfaction and identify opportunities for improvement, SLH utilizes an extensive program of market research and evaluation. These processes give SLH the ability to capture and understand customer needs and trends, and develop evidence-based plans.
• SLH aligns its operations from top to bottom, using a strategic planning process that includes its Balanced Scorecard, a color-coded, easy-to-understand report managers share with employees at all levels. Departmental 90-day action plans and an individual performance management process foster a deeply rooted sense of empowerment to identify and implement process improvement. This environment supports the hospital's vision to be “The Best Place to Get Care, Best Place to Give Care.”
• Financially SLH is strong and stable, showing sustained improvements over a multi-year period. SLH exceeds hospitals with similar bond ratings and has achieved top ratings from Standard and Poor's and Moody's. SLH outperforms the Council of Teaching Hospitals top quartile and ranks in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide in total margin.
The quest for quality
Saint Luke's Hospital's commitment to total quality and continuous improvement accelerated when it adopted the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria for Performance Excellence as its business model in 1995. Since then, Saint Luke's Hospital has experienced dramatic improvement in all aspects of its business. Saint Luke's Hospital is a three-time recipient of the Missouri Quality Award. The award is Missouri's highest recognition for overall performance excellence and is modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige Award.
Saint Luke's Hospital applied for the Baldrige award in May 2003 with a comprehensive application and in September was notified that it would receive a site visit in October. The extensive site visit gave the Baldrige team of examiners a chance to clarify and verify information in the application, and speak to hospital employees on all shifts.
Since winning the Baldrige award, Saint Luke's Hospital has received hundreds of requests for information, presentations and on-site visits from individuals and companies around the world. “Many of the hospital's best practices are easily transferable to other sectors beyond health care,” said Sherry Marshall, vice president, Quality, Saint Luke's Health System. “The Baldrige process encourages winners to share what they've learned with others committed to quality improvement, and it's an honor to do so.”
Other 2003 recipients include Medrad Inc. (manufacturing); Boeing Aerospace Support, St. Louis, Mo. (service); Caterpillar Financial Services Corp, Nashville, Tenn. (service); Stoner Inc., Quarryville, Pa. (small business); Community Consolidated School District 15, Palatine, Ill. (education); and Baptist Hospital Inc., Pensacola, Fla. (health care).
About the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Named after the 26 th Secretary of Commerce, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established by Congress in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses. The U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology manages the Baldrige National Quality Program in close cooperation with the private sector.
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