HealthGradesHealthGrades, the leading independent health care ratings organization, released its 2012 hospital ratings. Once again, Kalispell Regional Medical Center received top honors.

While the hospital won many accolades, the most notable awards included the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™, Patient Safety Excellence Award™, and Outstanding Patient Experience Award™. These designations rank Kalispell Regional Medical Center among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for clinical excellence and patient safety and the top 10 percent of hospitals in the nation for patient experience.

In addition to 7 overall awards to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, many achieved for the past four or five years in a row, the hospital’s cardiac services, orthopedics, gastrointestinal care and general surgery won a grand total of 14 awards. Check the full list in the news on the Northwest Healthcare website,www.nwhc.org.

The hospital also was one of only 47 in the nation and the only hospital in Montana to receive the HealthGrades 2012 Patient Safety Excellence and

2012 Outstanding Patient Experience Awards.

Cancer AccreditationNorthwest Healthcare’s broad-ranging cancer program and the Bass Breast Center earned important accreditations in April. The American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer granted three-year accreditation with commendation to the cancer program, and the College’s National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers granted three-year/full accreditation to the Bass Breast Center.

The cancer accreditation came with commendation in six of the eight categories in which a surveyor critiqued the Northwest Healthcare program. It made for the rare case of not only being accredited on the first attempt but providing a program of exceptional excellence. Breast surgical oncologist and accreditation committee chair Melissa Hulvat, M.D., put the emphasis not on the technology nor on the specialties, but on what this level of care can do to improve patients’ lives.

The Commission on Cancer required the hospital to meet 36 standards with a new push to make the standards patient-centered. A hospital cannot simply say it provides excellent care.

“We have to prove that we have the latest technology and the right physicians and practitioners to administer them,” she said. “Even more, we have to prove that we bring these technologies to the patient.”

For more information on the Cancer Program call the central line at (406) 756-CNCR (756-2627).

Kalispell Regional

Medical Center

Foundation Board Members

Greg Bancroft | Somers, MT

Bob Blickenstaff | Whitefish, MT

William Boehme, MD | Kalispell, MT

Katie Brown | Bigfork, MT

Anders Engdahl, MD | Kalispell, MT

Rick Greer | Columbia Falls, MT

Pauline Hartman | Bigfork, MT

Wilson Higgs, MD | Kalispell, MT

Andy Kirk | Kalispell, MT

Susan Kuhlman | Bigfork, MT

Jeannie Luckey | Kalispell, MT

Wayne Marshall | Whitefish, MT

Kathy Mercord | Somers, MT

Wayne Miller, MD | Kalispell, MT

Denise Nalty | Kalispell, MT

Kim Nystuen | Lakeside, MT

Steve Patyk | Lakeside, MT

Tom Ray | Whitefish, MT

Brad Salonen | Kalispell, MT

Larry Simpson | Kalispell, MT

Kathy Spoerl | Kalispell, MT

Velinda Stevens | Kalispell, MT

Ron Tjaden | Rollins, MT

Andra Townsley | Lakeside, MT

Tagen Vine | Whitefish, MT

Orrin Webber | Kalispell, MT

Bob White | Kalispell, MT

Chuck Wilhoit | Kalispell, MT

Registration is Open for the Inaugural Montana Dragon Boat FestivalGet the ride of your life Saturday, September 8 at Flathead Lake Lodge. Dragon boat racing is the eighth fastest growing sport in the world, with more than 50 million people in 63 countries participating in this fun, unique cultural event. Teams of 20 paddlers, a drummer and steerer race in authentic Hong Kong-style, 46-foot-long boats. All proceeds go to Save A Sister.

The Save A Sister initiative is a collaboration among Northwest Healthcare, North Valley Hospital and the Flathead City-County Health Department. The goal of this program is to raise funds to improve women’s access to and understanding of screening mammography. All funds stay in the local area.

Find out why you can’t miss this event on Flathead Lake, and register athttp://montana.racedragonboats.com.

DONOR DOLLARS AT WORK

Interventional RadiologyInterventional radiology, a subspecialty of diagnostic radiology, now is available at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. It provides minimally invasive procedures with imaging guidance, many replacing invasive procedures used in the past. Flathead Valley transplant and former Massachusetts General Hospital Interventional Radiologist Ben Pomerantz, M.D., describes interventional radiology as basically “performing surgical-type procedures guided by X-rays through tiny incisions.”

Kalispell Regional Medical Center launched this angiography and interventional suite in September, using a new digital X-ray system for treatments usually offered only at major medical centers. Doctors using the new system can perform a full spectrum of vascular and interventional procedures.

ALERT 2ALERT, the nation’s first rural hospital-based emergency air ambulance service, significantly extended its offering this spring by bringing a fixed-wing airplane on line.

Hangared at Glacier Park International Airport, the Pilatus PC-12 adds all-weather flying capability - a huge coup with storms here that can be as rugged as the Rocky Mountains. ALERT 2 extends flight distance to a 1,600-mile range and air speeds to 270 knots, introducing an upgraded quick-response element for bringing patients to Kalispell Regional Medical Center from Montana’s Hi-Line communities and other outlying areas. And it’s a quicker trip when minutes translate to life-saving, should patients need to be transported to larger medical centers.

“We always had to call in outside vendors when it was necessary to take patients from Kalispell to larger cities,” Director of Flight Operation, Carson Coryell said. With ALERT operating its own fixed-wing now, Kalispell Regional Medical Center medics can mobilize immediately for a quicker response time.

“But the primary function,” Coryell said, “is to expand our ability to bring patients here from outlying towns.” It also transports cardiologists, urologists and other specialists to outlying towns in order to establish relationships with a network of hospitals and clinics.

Neuroscience & Spine InstituteKalispell Regional Medical Center introduced the Neuroscience and Spine Institute - a collection of services and specialists in neurological medicine that is committed to excellence in education, treatment, research and care of patients with neurological disorders and injuries.

In Northwest Montana thousands of people are affected annually by common neurological conditions, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, tumors and spinal conditions, the severity of which often can be devastating. “Previous care models resulted in physicians working in isolated groups without working together,” said T.C. Origitano, M.D., Ph. D., chair of the Neuroscience and Spine Institute steering committee. “By collecting neurological specialties into a cohesive, cooperative group, it creates synergy within the organization and results in more coordinated care for the patient.”

For more information about Kalispell Regional Medical Center Foundation, call 751-6930 or visit us at www.nwhc.org.

NONPROFITAUTOCR

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

KALISPELL, MTPERMIT NO. 57

Dear Friend,We value the trust that you have placed in us with the gifts you have shared to serve our patients. The equipment and services listed in the pictures are provided to patients because of donors like yourself. Thank you for your generosity and continued support of this organization.

Tagen VinePresident, Kalispell Regional Medical Center Foundation