Danbury Hospital Honored With VHA National Leadership Award

DANBURY — VHA Inc has honored Danbury Hospital for excellence in “Improving Operational Performance and Service” with a 2004 VHA Leadership Award.

The award was presented during the 2004 VHA Leadership Conference in San Diego on April 27. Danbury Hospital was among eight health care organizations that received a bronze statue from VHA for exceptional work to improve health care delivery or outcomes.

“Danbury Hospital’s outstanding work exemplifies what VHA represents, a concerted effort to improve America’s health care system,” said Curt Nonomaque, president and chief executive officer of VHA.

Danbury Hospital was recognized for its innovative and systematic program first to improve and then to sustain hospitalwide safety performance, including implementation of Six Sigma quality process improvement, as coordinated by Terry Manning, workplace safety manager, employee health services.

“Danbury Hospital achieved a major reduction in OSHA reportable safety cases and lost workdays, and created a more safety-conscious environment,” said Terry Manning. Results included a 26 percent reduction in needle sticks, a 9 percent decrease in sharps injuries, a 31 percent reduction in lost work-time cases and a 15 percent decrease in OSHA reportable incidents among its workforce, between 2002 and 2003. The award entry was coordinated by Terry Manning and Marcie Albanesi, manager of planning and community relations.

Danbury Hospital President and CEO Frank J. Kelly said, “We are extremely proud to have received recognition at the national level for achieving our organizational goal to create a more safety-conscious environment. The plan was to both improve employee safety and create a self-sustaining program for continuous progress. Our employee health and safety committee, together with managers and employees, launched a breakthrough program that not only elevated employee safety in priority, but also energized action throughout our organization. This is a time to celebrate everyone who has contributed to making Danbury Hospital a safer workplace, thereby enhancing our performance and supporting improved efficiency, morale and quality.”

Alan Hobson was the keynote speaker for the San Diego awards conference. A Mount Everest climber and cancer survivor, his message stressed the continuous pursuit toward one’s goal, despite failures along the way. He urged VHA organizations to aim high and set tough targets.

VHA Inc is a cooperative that serves 2,200 leading community-owned health care organizations and their affiliated physicians, providing services that help them improve clinical, operational, and financial performance.

The VHA Leadership Awards are given annually to both individual hospitals and multihospital systems within the VHA network.