Heart Institute Quality and Safety

Lee Health’s HealthPark medical center was just honored as one of the top heart hospitals in the country. “It’s a really big deal. There are only 50 in the United States that got this award in our category, and there are only four in Florida. South of Tampa we are the only location in the entire state that got this award,” said Dr. Richard Chazal. Winning a national award like this requires multiple elements. “You have to have first class facilities and equipment that allows you to use cutting edge technology to care for patients.”

You also need to have a world-class team. “That means top-flight best in the country physicians. However, they have to be working in collaboration with top-flight top in their class nursing staff, technologists, and administrators throughout the system, collaboratively working together,” said Dr. Chazal.

Another critical factor is taking the time to analyze performance. “We use objective benchmark data. That means we’re comparing ourselves to the best places in the country. We’re seeing exactly how we measure up. How well are we doing? We identify where we may have opportunities for improvement and we put in place processes to close those gaps. We do it all the time continually. We never let up,” said Dr. Chazal.

Despite the honor, Dr. Chazal said they’re always looking at ways they can improve. “Getting an award like this is validation for us of the hard work, that so many people have contributed to in terms of trying to continually improve the quality of care. It’s a confirmation to us that we’re headed in the right direction but we’re not done.” You can learn more by searching for heart on leehealth.org.