Sutter Davis Hospital received the 2013 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor that recognizes performance excellence in quality improvement, workforce, operations and leadership.
“Sutter Davis Hospital has been on this quality journey for five years to improve and sustain our performance in seven categories: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, operations focus and results,” said Nancy Turner, the communications director of Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region.
According to a press release, the Baldridge Award was established by Congress in 1987, and is managed by the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program of the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The Baldridge Program raises awareness of the importance of performance excellence in the U.S., and provides assessment tools and criteria. Businesses, schools, health care organizations and government and non-profit organizations are eligible to receive the award.
Thousands of organizations use the Baldridge criteria in order to guide their operations, improve performance and get sustainable results. This improvement and innovation framework offers organizations an approach to key management areas. The criteria are regularly updated.
The Baldridge Award provides benefits for the selected organizations, among which include a growth in revenue and jobs, as well as the honor of the title. According to the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program’s website, one report in 2011 noted that healthcare facilities that have won or been in the final review process for the award were six times more likely to be among the annual Truven Health “100 Top Hospitals” list.
Sutter Davis hospital has been on the “100 Top Hospitals” list four times, including the past three years. This is also the first time an organization in the Sacramento region has been the recipient of the Baldridge Award.
“Sutter Davis is a small hospital, so if anyone is looking for a facility that is more community-oriented with family support and a friendly staff, this would be the hospital for them,” said Eunice Lee, a registered nurse who completed part of her nursing training at Sutter Davis. “There is an interpersonal relationship between the patient and the staff, and the physicians provide a one-to-one focus.”
The hospital is located in West Davis, and has the city’s only emergency room. It is affiliated with the Sutter Health System in Sacramento, which is known for specific specialty care.
“Although it is a small hospital, Sutter Davis strives for excellence,” said a Sutter Davis physician who preferred to remain anonymous. “We see all kinds of different conditions come in and we try to keep the patients’ safety our priority.”
Sutter Davis is known for being a family birthing center, with personal options like water births for expectant mothers. It is the only hospital in the greater Sacramento area to offer the option of water births in a designated water birth tub.
“Their birthing center offers options that tend to the mothers and their families, in order to make it as natural as possible,” Lee said. “The hospital is commendable for those features, and it’s very baby-friendly.”
UC Davis students who are covered under the UC SHIP medical insurance go to the Sutter Davis Hospital if they need immediate treatment or need to be taken to the emergency room. Many students have had positive things to say about their experiences in the hospital.
“The staff really tend to the patient’s needs, and I can see their efforts in trying to get to know their patients on a more personal level,” said Kristen Pham, a third-year cellular biology major who has been to the hospital several times. “They made me feel as comfortable as possible, and within the couple times I’ve been admitted everything was quick because they went straight to work. Their use of equipment was also very efficiently done.”
The 2013 Baldridge Award will be presented to Sutter Davis in a ceremony in Baltimore, Md. in April 2014.
