Local News
American Fork Hospital ranked fourth best small community hospital in the nation
Brynn Carnesecca | Lehi Free Press
In 1937, American Fork’s first community hospital opened its doors. Since then, the hospital has expanded and grown into the American Fork Hospital located on the edge of American Fork on North County Blvd. The hospital is 205,000 square feet, complete with 90 beds, 800 caregivers and a medical staff of over 450 with constant expansions. PINC AI Healthcare Intelligence Engine has recently recognized the hospital as the fourth best small community hospital in the nation.
In the past, comparing hospitals and their associated care proved difficult and inconsistent.
“We would all measure our quality and our safety information, but there wasn’t necessarily a clearing house for a lot of that. Different organizations would try, but the Affordable Care Act in 2010 set up a requirement for healthcare organizations to submit quality data to the government,” said Hospital President Jason Wilson. “What that did was create a database of quality data and safety information. It then became very easy to take that information and compare hospitals across the nation because we were collecting information the same way.”
Once the Affordable Care Act passed, many organizations began to compare hospitals using the metrics provided. These organizations include external organizers outside of Intermountain Healthcare, as well as internal groups and committees rewarding the good that goes on inside the hospital.
For the last five years, the hospital has received an award recognizing it as one of the top 100 hospitals nationwide. Last year, the hospital was the top-rated hospital in the small community hospital category. The awards are split into unique categories for trauma centers, community hospitals and other specialty healthcare facilities.
“Less than two percent of hospitals nationally get that recognition each year,” Wilson explained. “Many hospitals never receive that award, so to get it for the last five years is a big deal.”
The organization looks at different metrics to determine which hospitals will receive the award.
“They look at many different things, including quality outcomes, safety outcomes and patient experiences. We do surveys, and they will look at patient responses to the services. They will also look at cost data to see if it is appropriate for the services given,” said Wilson. “When you take all of that together and mix it up, that is how they give awards. I think it is a big deal because it reflects our responsibility to the community.”
Surveys sent to each patient are essential to every employee at American Fork Hospital.
“Reading the comments and the data from those surveys are one of the most important things we do in the hospital,” Wilson said. “We all read through the comments. We obsess to some degree on failure and we try to fix things when there are outcomes somebody didn’t want. We look through every single comment and try to address that concern or situation. More than anything else that has allowed us to become a top-performing hospital.”
The American Fork Hospital expressed humility at being chosen for this award. They recognize the immense weight of caring for those in the community in their time of need.
“This is a fantastic community. It’s as great of a place as you’ll find anywhere in the world,” said Wilson. “The quality of care we provide needs to match the quality of our community, and that’s what these recognitions try to show.”
In addition to the external awards, Intermountain also awards staff with the L.O.V.E. Clinical Shared Services Award. The most recent awards were given to local heroes Kylie Dutton and Martha Booth.
“American Fork Hospital is a special place to work. I’ve worked at many hospitals over the years, and I’ve never worked with a medical staff like we have here. They create a culture that is respectful of each other and respectful of our staff. The quality of our caregivers—our nurses, techs and support staff—is reflective of the people in our community,” Wilson shared.
For more information on the PINC AI top 100 hospitals, visit www.pinc-ai.com/100-top-hospitals/winners/. For more information on the American Fork Hospital, visitwww.intermountainhealthcare.org/locations/american-fork-hospital.
