Memorial Health System captured top honors in the healthcare system category in a quality excellence competition sponsored by the Illinois Hospital Association.

This is the IHA Institute for Innovations in Care and Quality’s third annual Quality Excellence Achievement Awards. The awards were presented during the IHA’s Leadership Summit on Sept. 24 in Lombard.

The nonprofit health system was recognized for a project titled “Lean Six Sigma Methodologies Reduce Hospital-Acquired Pressure Ulcer Prevalence by 79 Percent in a Tertiary Medical Center.” The initiative had a 50 percent reduction goal, but Memorial Medical Center achieved a 79 percent reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcers.

“This award is a wonderful recognition of the outstanding work done across all Memorial Health System inpatient nursing units to reduce the rate of this debilitating health care-acquired condition,” said Charles Callahan, Ph.D., vice president of quality and operations for Memorial Health System.

“This recognition from the Illinois Hospital Association further validates our work over the last few years to improve our overall quality, safety and efficiency,” Callahan said. “All our quality-improvement efforts align with our mission to improve the health of the people and communities we serve.”

A total of 104 projects were submitted by 57 hospitals. Memorial Health System submitted 21 projects for evaluation.

Awards went to the most highly scored project in each of three categories: Healthcare System, Rural/Critical Access Hospital and Urban Hospital.

Winners were chosen by a 29-member panel of nationally recognized quality improvement experts, who evaluated submissions based on achieving progress in implementing the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Triple Aim – enhancing the patient experience, improving population health and reducing health care costs.

“IHA established this award to acknowledge the outstanding quality improvement initiatives of our members, to promote collaboration and to spark an educated dialogue on improving patient care,” said Maryjane A. Wurth, IHA president and CEO. “Data transparency and information sharing drive quality improvement and help our members move forward with a heightened focus on patient care initiatives that transform health care delivery.”

The other two hospitals recognized were Advocate Eureka Hospital in Eureka in the Rural/Critical Access Hospital category and Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago in the Urban Hospital category.