Amy Dwyer, Chief Nursing Officer at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wis., Outlines Her 3 Top Goals for 2010

Tags: Amy Dwyer | evidence-based healthcare | goals | Sacred Heart Hospital | Wisconsin

1. Create a deliberate growth strategy. Every hospital should have a growth strategy, especially in this economy. You need to ask yourselves, "How are you going to develop as a business?" This hospital has identified several areas that we want to enhance in the next year, including cardiology, bariatrics, neurosurgery, cancer and orthopedics. These changes can mean growing current services or adding new service lines. We believe clinical service development will be key to our success in the future.

2. Carry out the mission of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. We carry out the mission of the sisters who founded Sacred Heart Hospital every year, no matter what. It includes providing care for the sick, the aged, the poor and the terminally ill without regard to race, color, creed or national origin. It also involves keeping our presence within the community — that is, being good citizens within the community. This can mean participating in activities such as cancer walks, fundraisers for heart disease and many other things.

3. Deliver cost-effective, quality care with an emphasis on safety. For a long time we have been embracing evidence-based healthcare. This hospital produces metrics in many different areas, such as infection rates and fall rates. We are always seeking to improve our scores. It's easy to say, "Look how much we have improved!" But we want to go beyond meeting the national benchmark. The goal is to achieve a zero error rate.
In August we earned the Wisconsin Forward Award, the governor's award for excellence. We were competing against nominees across all industries for this distinction. It is the highest award an organization can receive for excellence in the state of Wisconsin, comparable to the Malcolm Baldrige Award on the national level.

Learn more about Sacred Heart Hospital.

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