TYRONE – The National Rural Health Resource Center has recognized Tyrone Hospital for demonstrating excellence and innovation in the area of community engagement.
Tyrone Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital (CAH), received honorable mention for its initiatives to improve population health, communication with patients, partners and the community, collection and use of patient satisfaction data and partnerships with other organizations.
Tyrone Hospital was among 14 hospitals honored out of 1,300 critical access hospitals (CAH) nationwide.
Lawrence Baronner, Critical Access Hospital coordinator from the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, presented the award to hospital leaders Kelly Wike, president of the board of directors and Stephen Gildea, chief executive officer.
“When the National Rural Health Resource Center announced that Community Engagement was the recognition category for this year, Tyrone Hospital came immediately to mind. For the past few years the innovative programs that Tyrone Hospital has initiated for the benefit of their community has been remarkable,” said Baronner.
“The members of the board of directors are very aware of the great services Tyrone Hospital provides to the citizens of Tyrone and the surrounding areas, but for this hospital to be recognized nationally is a great accomplishment,” said Wike.
“We are very proud of the entire Tyrone Hospital family and their commitment to providing excellent healthcare as well as their commitment to sponsoring and attending the many events in our area. We will continue to strive for excellence and innovation in the area of community engagement and move up to one of the top five critical access hospitals in the near future.”
Some of the initiatives that helped put Tyrone Hospital in the spotlight include partnerships for the development of various services and community events including the Tyrone Hospital Orthopedic Clinic, Breast Cancer & Women’s Health Institute of Central Pennsylvania, development of an adolescent breast health education program, the new Tyrone Health and Wellness Building, the new Tyrone Fitness and Wellness Center, Workforce Wellness Solutions, an innovative new model for providing Occupational Health services to business and industry, walking trails on the hospital campus, community health fairs, health education and wellness programs, activities to create awareness of health care careers, participation in a county wide coalition that assesses and works to address community health needs, fund raising and activities to support cancer awareness, a focus on patient satisfaction and Five Star Customer Service Standards, use of diverse communications including the internet, social media, a community newsletter and a weekly newspaper health column.
Gildea said, “Tyrone Hospital is a community asset that was built by the community. We are here to serve the community. Our Board of Directors, physicians, hospital staff and leadership all are committed to the residents of Tyrone and the surrounding area. This includes Bellwood, Tipton, Birmingham, Warriors Mark, Snyder Township, Houtzdale, Port Matilda, Philipsburg, Coalport and all points in between.
“In many areas, healthcare has become a big, profit-driven business, which is causing hospitals to lose touch with their communities. Like in Tyrone, most hospitals were started by the people in a community, and the community has put a tremendous amount of resource into their hospital. We are striving to keep our hospital a vibrant part of the local economy through efforts to give back to the community through high quality healthcare, and through helping the community with new fitness, health and wellness initiatives.”
The National Rural Health Resource Center accepts nominations for public recognition of critical access hospitals (CAHs) throughout the United States. Nominees must demonstrate outstanding achievements in areas of performance identified by the Center.
The National Rural Health Resource Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining and improving health care in rural communities. As the nation’s leading technical assistance and knowledge center in rural health, the center focuses on Performance Improvement, Health Information Technology, Recruitment & Retention, Community Health Assessments and Networking.