Redwood Area Hospital has earned another Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) Patient Safety Excellence Award for its safe practices in the surgical department.

The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) Patient Safety Excellence Award honors superior performance in preventing adverse health events. The award is given to hospitals that are actively participating in one or more of MHA's five safety campaigns - SAFE from FALLS, SAFE SKIN, SAFE COUNT, SAFE SITE and SAFE ACCOUNT - and achieve 90 percent or higher of campaign roadmap steps.

Most recently, Redwood Area Hospital was recognized for its successful participation in MHA’s newest initiative, SAFE ACCOUNT. This initiative works to ensure prevention of retained objects during surgical procedures. The hospital has previously been recognized in all other Patient Safety Excellence categories: SAFE from FALLS, SAFE SKIN, SAFE COUNT and SAFE SITE.

"Hospitals that receive these awards are to be commended - the bar is set very high," said MHA Patient Safety Vice President Tania Daniels.

Surgery department works to keep patients safe

The MHA SAFE ACCOUNT initiative involves surgical teams working collectively to implement an extensive list of recommended actions concerning both the counting of and accounting for all items used during invasive procedures, especially in the operating room.

“We are committed to doing everything we can to provide the safest surgical experience for our patients,” said Dawn Allen, Redwood Area Hospital chief clinical officer.

Redwood Area Hospital’s surgery department is also participating in Minnesota Safe Surgery Coalition’s “Time Out” campaign to prevent wrong-site surgical/invasive procedures. This initiative sets five key Time Out steps to be performed before every procedure. When the “time out” is called, all activity in the operating room is stopped. Once quiet, two designated staff verbally and visually confirm the procedure and site. Once this has happened, the person performing the surgery states the procedure, including site, by memory before proceeding.

“We are proud that Redwood Area Hospital has had no wrong site surgical events, and efforts such as these ensure we will continue to provide the best care for our patients,” said Redwood Area Hospital surgery manager, Julie Salmon.

The hospital’s surgery department provides same-day surgery services with visiting specialists for general surgery, ENT procedures, cataracts and other eye surgeries, colonoscopies and gastro-intestinal procedures, orthopedic procedures, and podiatry procedures. The surgery department also handles cesarean births with qualified local physicians.