Fire Starter
Shands at the University of Florida
Gainesville
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Shands at the University of Florida is a 660-bed academic medical center providing highly specialized, quaternary medical care. Established in 1958 in Gainesville, Fla., Shands at UF is one of eight hospitals in the Shands HealthCare system. Shands HealthCare is a private not-for-profit healthcare system affiliated with UF, with facilities located throughout North Central and Northeast Florida.
In 2004, Shands HealthCare engaged the Studer Group to further establish an organizational culture of service and operational excellence. The result was the "BEST: Building Excellent Service Together" program, which became integrated throughout the healthcare system's eight hospitals and 80-plus affiliated UF clinics. BEST is an employee-focused program that supports Shands HealthCare's mission and vision, connects the system's goals and builds employee accountability and engagement, resulting in continually improving patient and customer service and quality outcomes.
Shands at UF leaders and BEST teams have hardwired rounding; employee thank-you notes; Key Words at Key Times; pre- and post-visit phone calls; and improved recruitment and re-recruitment during the first 90 days. Implementing Studer Group principles and tools, focusing on our goals and the commitment of our leaders and staff led to the following successes:
SERVICE
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In the most recent Professional Research Consultants patient-satisfaction survey, our patients ranked Shands at UF in the 94th percentile for overall quality.
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In its 2008 survey, the Florida Department of Health listed the Shands at UF Level I Trauma Center as "a true model for trauma programs."
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Nursing Professionalsmagazine named Shands at UF one of the 2009 Top 100 Hospitals to Work For.
QUALITY
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Shands HealthCare won the 2008 Governor's Sterling Award – the state's top honor for performance excellence. Shands is the largest organization ever to receive this prestigious award since its introduction in 1993. Few healthcare systems have been recognized this way for quality, outcomes and organizational excellence.
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Shands at UF received re-designation as a Magnet Hospital for nursing excellence as designated by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The nursing profession's most prestigious honor, "Magnet" status is achieved by less than one percent of the nation's acute-care hospitals.
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Thomson Reuters recognized Shands at UF and its senior management team as one of 100 hospitals making the greatest progress in improving hospital-wide performance over five consecutive years, 2002-06.
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Shands at UF is one of the first health systems of its size to
implement the Studer Group's on-line tracking tool, the Leadership Evaluation Module. This tool facilitates entry for data, results and tracks progress, which allows us to hardwire accountability for system leaders.
FINANCE
- Shands at UF and Shands HealthCare employees pledged $1.5 million through an internal giving campaign called "Raising Hope at Work" to help support the construction of the Shands at UF Cancer Hospital.
PEOPLE
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More than 12,000 employee nominations were received during 2008 in the systemwide employee reward and recognition program "Customer Service is the Key." Nominees received recognition pins and keys, some went on to win gift cards and quarterly CEO Award winners received special recognition and day of paid time off.
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Shands at UF celebrated its 50th anniversary in October and honored Rose Fulcher, its longest-service employee of 48 years.
GROWTH
- Construction for the Shands at UF Cancer Hospital began in January 2007 and the hospital on schedule to open in November 2009. The $388-million, 500,000-square-foot hospital will house 192 private beds for a variety of patients, including those receiving diagnostic and therapeutic oncology services. It also will include a Critical Care Center for emergency- and trauma-related services.
Shands at UF has Centers of Excellence in cancer, cardiovascular, neurosurgical and transplant services. Approximately 550 University of Florida faculty physicians practice in more than 100 areas of specialty care. Shands at UF operates a Level I Trauma Center and Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Shands at UF is ranked as a U.S.News & World Report Best Hospital and is designated as a primary stroke center by the Agency for Health Care Administration.