Fairview Hospital, Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Fairview Hospital, located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was the first recipient of the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Recognition Certificate for quality improvement and demonstrated quality initiatives.

Positive Outcomes:

• Opportunities for diabetes educators to work within CAH physician offices
• Improved cultural and language competency via collaboration with a community-based Latino organization
• Implemented a CAH-nursing home collaborative for early Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) identification
• Used an on-site simulation lab to improve team training, further supporting TeamSTEPPs efforts and reducing off-site training costs
• Supported food service sustainability via Healthcare Without Harm's Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge, including increasing locally-sourced sustainably-grown food and healthy beverage choices 

Top Accomplishments:

Fairview Hospital is the only CAH in Massachusetts to make the Joint Commission Top Performers on Key Quality Measures for Pneumonia and Surgical Care in 2012. In December 2012, Fairview Hospital was recognized as one of 13 Top Rural Hospitals in the United States by the Leapfrog Group. This is a prestigious quality award that few CAHs had achieved to date. Upon receiving this recognition, Vice President of Operations and Chief Nursing Officer, Doreen Hutchinson said, "At Fairview, we are committed to continuous improvement in how we care for our patients, their families, and our community. Our goal is to provide a level of quality and patient safety that achieves best practice outcomes and top decile performance nationally."