The Healthcare Association of New York State presented the prestigious 2010 Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety to Catholic Health Services of Long Island (CHS) for its “Improving Patient Safety in Obstetrics Using Crew Resources Management” initiative. After researching various approaches to reduce obstetrical adverse events, a special task force selected the Crew Resource Management model used in the aviation industry. Clinicians were trained, and principles around communication, team structure, situation monitoring, mutual support, and team behavior were adopted. Emergency drills were also conducted to sharpen critical incident awareness and response.
After 18 months, CHS has seen significant improvements in reducing neonatal intensive care admissions by more than 60 percent at the four pat'cipat'ng hospitals, including St. Catherine’s, Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center and St. Charles Hospital. The CHS program was named the most outstanding safety iinitiative out of more than 130 nominees from hospitals and health systems in New York state.