Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center (EMRMC) has been recognized for the high quality of care given to its patients.  On May 17, EMRMC received the 2023 Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) Quality Award. The KHA Quality Award is presented to honor hospital leadership and innovation in quality, safety and commitment in patient care. The Award was presented to EMRMC for their efforts in early detection and treatment for patients that develop sepsis.

Sepsis is a life-threatening, overwhelming response to infection by the body that could progress to tissue damage, multiple organ failure and death. Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center has had a multidisciplinary Sepsis Committee since the fall of 2015 that works on improving patient care and outcomes. In the fall of 2021 a sepsis nurse navigator was added to the team and began leading the Sepsis Committee and formed a focus group to develop a sepsis alert system and revise policies and procedures.  Since then, there has been ongoing education for hospital staff and many improvements in work flow when caring for patients.

The result of these efforts have been exceptional with the overall care of sepsis patients well above the National average. This project is ongoing and the committee continues to meet in order to provide the best patient care to our community.

“We are extremely proud of the work of our Associates and Providers have done with improving the overall sepsis care for our patients,” says Jason Dean, Ephraim McDowell Health VP of Clinical Effectiveness and Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital Administrator. “This has truly been a team effort and means that our patients are receiving the type of care to provide them with the best outcomes possible.”