(July 7, 2011) Sellersville, PA – Grand View Hospital received a Surgical Care Improvement Award of Excellence for implementing best practices to improve patient safety. All hospitals in the state of Pennsylvania and across the nation are evaluated on the same core process of care measures that serve as the criteria for the award. Only nine hospitals in Pennsylvania including Grand View received the award.

Grand View’s quality management manager Cathy Hurley, credits a proactive, team approach, “Our entire staff — surgeons, anesthesiologists, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, hospital executives, and others — has worked together to make quality patient outcomes a priority. We put several processes in place to minimize the risk of infection and other surgical complications.” Some of the processes include:

• Administration of appropriate antibiotics within the right timeframe;
• Maintaining the appropriate body temperature throughout the surgical process;
• Removing catheters used to drain the bladder in a timely manner after surgery; and
• Giving drugs that prevent blood clots.

The Surgical Care Improvement Award of Excellence was bestowed by Quality Insights of Pennsylvania, a non-profit organization under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This organization protects Medicare patient rights and works collaboratively with hospitals and other health care providers in Pennsylvania to assist them in their efforts to improve the quality of the care they deliver.

Grand View Hospital, Bucks County’s first hospital, has provided residents of Bucks and Montgomery Counties with comprehensive health care services since 1913. Grand View offers a range of care – particularly emphasizing the areas of cancer treatment, women's and children's health, surgery, orthopaedics, and heart and vascular care. Grand View Hospital has been named among the best hospitals in the Philadelphia Metro area by U.S. News & World Report and is recognized as “high performing” in orthopaedics and geriatrics. Visit www.gvh.org for more information about the hospital, its programs, and services.