Tallahatchie County’s hospital and nursing home recently attained excellent marks on separate surveys.
Tallahatchie General Hospital achieved the maximum five-star rating on a nationally standardized patient satisfaction survey.
The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, regulated and monitored by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, solicits feedback from recently discharged hospital patients who had been admitted for acute care or swingbed rehabilitation services.
The survey asks patients 27 questions about their hospital stay, including communication with nurses and doctors, the responsiveness of hospital staff, the cleanliness and quietness of the hospital environment, pain management and more.
“We recently learned that we scored five out of five stars on that,” said TGH Administrator Jim Blackwood, who explained that because of the Charleston hospital’s smaller size and status as a critical access facility, it is not even required to utilize the survey, which is federally mandated for much larger institutions.
“We do it anyway because we want to voluntarily participate in that,” Blackwood explained. “We think we do a pretty good job at providing patient satisfaction.”
Blackwood said he is proud of the many pieces of the puzzle that have come together to make the inpatient experience one with which an overwhelming majority of his hospital’s patients have been so pleased.
“We’ve been very deliberate about trying to not just score well on a test, but we really want it to be a culture,” he explained. “We really want it to be automatic. This tells me that we’ve accomplished that.”
There is no particular award that accompanies the five-star rating for patient satisfaction. A banner on display in front of the hospital touting the honor was designed and paid for by TGH, Blackwood said.
“Nothing other than bragging rights, but that’s something that we hope patients, when they see that, will have a level of confidence that they’re going to get good service when they come here,” he noted.
Tallahatchie Extended Care Facility, the 98-bed nursing home which adjoins TGH, recently earned a deficiency-free score during a routine annual survey and inspection conducted by a team from the Mississippi State Department of Health.
“This year, they showed up on a Sunday,” Blackwood said of the inspectors. “Sometimes, they show up at night. You never know. You know it’s going to be within three or four months of when they came last year because it’s how the cycle runs, but it’s a surprise inspection.”
Blackwood said every aspect of operations is gone over with a fine-toothed comb.
“It’s not just a visual inspection,” said Blackwood. “They pull charts, they look at policies and procedures, staffing matrices, nursing documentation, the life safety code compliance, how your maintenance staff is maintaining the building — are things safe and in good repair.”
Blackwood said ECF staff were “extremely well-prepared.”
“Everybody over there plays a huge role,” he noted. “For example, the dietary staff knocked it out of the park. The surveyors come in there and inspect the kitchen. They want to see how you’re handling food. They’re going to check food temperature and refrigeration temperatures. They look at the cleanliness of the whole facility, but particularly the kitchen. They want to see everybody wearing hair nets, and all these things they look at.
“Housekeeping, they always do a fantastic job, but they knocked it out of the park. The therapy staff, the nurses, the CNAs — everybody,” Blackwood continued. “They pulled together and worked as a team and they just did a fantastic job.”
While a no-deficiency survey is relatively rare, Blackwood said this is ECF’s second in three years.
Additionally, ECF recently earned its highest rating ever — four out of five stars, up from three — in a federal rating system called Nursing Home Compare, he noted.
“That is based primarily on specific quality metrics that you measure and transmit information on throughout the course of the year,” Blackwood said. “It also has to do with your staffing levels, the incidence of infections in your facility, the incidence of wounds and falls, and those type of quality measures. They measure all of that, calculate it into a score and assign you a star level.”
IN THE PHOTO: Some members of Tallahatchie General Hospital administration, the board of trustees, medical staff and others pose in front of a banner created to celebrate the hospital’s five-star rating in patient satisfaction on a national survey. Pictured at bottom (from left) are Shaye Story, Jim Blackwood, Debra Brown, Deloris Collins, Buddy McRae and Diane Harris. At top (from left) are Billie Lawrence, Cooper Lewis, Jeanie Douglas, Paige Stewart, Jane Carpenter, Dianne McKellar, Christina Santiago, Geanie Green, David Hargett, Amanda Miller, Brittney Hames, Morris Murphey, Vickey Meek, Denise Jennings, Ike Sayle, Alan Palmer and Gerry Speir. (Photo by Lacy Pettit)
