The Partnership for Health and Accountability, an affiliate of the Georgia Health Association (GHA), presented two of its prestigious Patient Safety and Quality Awards to Augusta University Health for the health system’s work in reducing the risk of medical errors and improving patient safety and medical outcomes.

The Children’s Hospital of Georgia at Augusta University Health won second place in the Hospitals With Greater Than 300 Beds category for its project titled “Reducing the Occurrence of Postoperative Pneumonia in the Pediatric Patient Population: A Multidisciplinary Team Collaboration.” Established in 2018, the project reduced the rate of pneumonia in pediatric patients during the postoperative period.

“I would like to offer my thanks to the GHA and my sincere congratulations to the interdisciplinary team at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia who worked to develop a standardized approach for managing the pulmonary care for our high-risk neonatal and pediatric patients,” said Ann Hayes, Nurse Manager of Pediatric Perioperative Services at Children’s. “This team was remarkably successful in developing staff education and clinical protocols that moved our benchmarking data within the American College of Surgeon National Surgery Quality Improvement Program to exemplary performance.”

The Comprehensive Stroke Center at AU Health also won third place in the same category for the project “Decreasing Door-to-Needle Times in Acute Stroke Patients.” The project improved the care of stroke patients by decreasing the time between patient arrival and administration of Alteplase, a medication used to treat ischemic stroke. As a result of the team’s work, stroke patients now receive treatment within 30 minutes of arriving to Augusta University Medical Center.

“Each and every member of the team takes pride in the care we offer to our patients, and we are honored to be recognized for our work,” said Holly Barnes, Stroke Program Manager at AU Health. “The stroke team at Augusta University Health strives to continue providing high-quality care to our patients, and we will always look for ways to make stroke care better and faster in Augusta and surrounding areas.”

As health care workers continue serving on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, Georgia Hospital Association President and CEO Earl Rogers commended AU Health for the continued service in providing care to all patients.

“Hospitals are diligently working each day to ensure the safety of their patients, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rogers. “We applaud the Children’s Hospital of Georgia and Augusta University Health for its successes and for making critical progress in patient safety while ensuring the best and safest care possible for patients.”