Hospital listed among top 100 in U.S.

UF Health Shands Hospital has been named one of the 100 great hospitals in America by Becker’s Hospital Review.

UF Health Shands Hospital has been named one of the 100 great hospitals in America by Becker’s Hospital Review, which publishes business and legal information for health care industry leaders.

“Having a place among America’s top hospitals reaffirms what we already know: Our dedication to delivering the best medical care and patient experience is a team effort,” said Ed Jimenez, UF Health Shands CEO. “This recognition is shared by the thousands of UF Health Shands employees who strive for excellence.”

According to Becker’s, UF Health Shands Hospital made the list for its many strengths, including a strong history of medical innovation, providing high-quality care, leading clinical advancement with forward-thinking research and maintaining an irreplaceable spot in the community.

In March, UF Health Shands Hospital was also recognized by Becker’s as one of the nation’s 150 great places to work in health care.

David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., UF senior vice president for health affairs and UF Health president, said, “Everyone at UF Health Shands Hospital can be extremely proud of yet another recognition of our commitment to providing the highest quality of patient care. This is an honor that is a direct result of the care and effort that our many employees demonstrate every day on the job.”

Our patients have spoken and we’re listening. The UF Health Shands Patient Satisfaction Continuous Quality Improvement, or CQI, team recently adopted a list of the 10 most common things that inpatients and their families want to remind our clinical staff, known as the Patient Wish List.

“Though many of the items on the list seem like common sense, in the hustle and bustle of health care, providers may forget some of the simple things,” said Jessica Birkett, M.S.N., R.N., UF Health Shands Hospital Medical/Surgical Unit 74 nurse manager and UF Health Shands Patient Satisfaction CQI team member. “Implementing the Patient Wish List will continue to assist the organization toward our vision of patient-centered, innovative and high-quality care.”

The team is led by Robert Leverence, M.D., UF College of Medicine professor and vice chair for clinical affairs, and Irene Alexaitis, D.N.P., R.N., NEA-BC, UF Health Shands Hospital chief nursing officer and Nursing and Patient Services vice president. The focus is on implementing innovative ways to improve our patient experience, based on patient satisfaction scores using data collected through rounding surveys. After reading an article that featured The John Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality Wish List, the team noticed the items on this list matched many of our patients’ wishes and decided to implement the strategy at UF Health.

“This list is a constant reminder that our patients are at the heart of our organization,” Alexaitis said. “It’s important to us that our patients are physically and emotionally comfortable. We’re excited to have yet another method in place to ensure that we’re keeping quality patient care at the forefront of our health care.”