Cambridge Health Alliance Golf Tournament raises over $75K

Over 100 golfers participated in the seventh annual Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) Golf Tournament, held at the Andover Country Club on August 16. The event raised more than $75,000 to support CHA’s critical community health mission.

The CHA Golf Tournament was established to raise money for CHA’s Whidden Hospital campus, which serves the 200,000 residents of Everett, Malden, Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop. Proceeds from past tournaments have been used to fund a complete renovation of the Emergency Department and expand vital Radiology and Cardiology services. This year’s event will benefit CHA’s new Patient Experience of Care initiatives recently introduced at the Whidden campus.

Earlier this year, Whidden staff implemented numerous changes that have positively impacted patients and improved patient satisfaction scores. For example, a new “intentional rounding” program ensures that patients see a nurse or certified nursing assistant every hour during the day and every two hours overnight. Additionally, patients receive a free daily newspaper, food and nutrition services have been improved, and rooms are outfitted with whiteboards to better communicate clinical team member names. CHA’s innovative Patient Family Advisory Council has also been expanded to help develop programs and improve processes.

Early results of the Patient Experience of Care initiatives have seen significant improvements in several key statewide metrics. CHA’s Press Ganey scores in almost all categories rose from the January-March reporting period to the April-June reporting period, with especially dramatic gains in the number of patients rating the Whidden campus a “9” or “10” as well as the scores measuring the “Responsiveness of Hospital Staff.”

“We are extremely pleased that incorporating some of the comforts of home and enhancing communication with clinical staff have profoundly affected our patients’ experiences here,” said Deborah Murphy, RN, Site Administrator of CHA’s Whidden Hospital campus. “The generosity of those who contributed to the golf tournament will allow us to continue these important patient-centered process improvements and staff training programs.”

Cambridge Health Alliance is an innovative, award-winning integrated health system that provides high quality care in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston’s metro-north communities. It includes three hospital campuses, a network of primary care and specialty practices, the Cambridge Public Health Dept., and the Network Health plan. CHA is a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate and is also affiliated with Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Tufts University School of Medicine. Visit us online at www.challiance.org.

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