Hospital wins three awards
By Arthur McLean Editor

PHOTO BY ARTHUR MCLEAN Beth Etheridge RN, and Teresa Smith RN, show off the awards won by the Southwest Alabama Medical Center.

Southwest Alabama Medical Center brought home some new hardware earlier this month. The hospital won three awards for quality from an awards banquet sponsored by the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation.

The hospital won the bronze award of excellence for overall quality care, making it one of the top three hospitals in the state having 100 beds or less with this ranking. The award is based on about six different standards or diagnosis and patient treatment outcomes.

The next award was the crystal award for excellence for the most improved hospital in Alabama among hospitals with 100 beds or less. The award is given based on hospitals that have the greatest improvement rate for giving appropriate care measures.

The third award given was the "Above and Beyond Award" given in recognition of a hospital's collaborative efforts in patient care as a "Mentor Hospital."

"This is something we're very proud of," said Kevin Bierschenk, CEO of Southwest Alabama Medical Center.

"This signifies our patient care and how we stand up against other hospitals in the state," said Teresa Smith, outcomes manager for the hospital. "It's especially good news because our numbers of patients are so small here, that it's easy for the percentages to look bad, so it's hard to win these things for such a small hospital."

"These awards mean we're achieving results comparable to much bigger hospitals, and that's something people need to know," she said.

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