Kirby Medical Center won Honorable Mention for its
KirbyWellness Program at ICAHN's 2015 Hospital 'Innovation of the Year' award ceremonies
held November 11 at The Crowne Plaza, Springfield. Accepting the award for the
hospital were Karin Sykes, Director of Therapy Services, and Sara Wade,
Director of Food and Nutrition Services.
"What these hospitals have done for their employees,
their patients, and their communities is nothing short of amazing," said
Angie Charlet, Director of Quality and Educational Services. "There is
such a depth of innovation in all the projects submitted that I strongly
encourage you to share ideas and insights. It was a truly difficult decision as
each and every submission was worthy of the honor."
Shown above are Sara Wade (left) and Karin Sykes of Kirby Medical Center, Erin Frank of Paris Community Hospital, and Denise Browning of Hamilton Memorial Hospital.
2015 HOSPITAL 'INNOVATION OF THE YEAR' HONORABLE MENTION
Kirby Medical Center's KirbyWellness Program
Submitted by Karin Sykes, Director of Therapy Services, and Sara
Wade, Director of Food and Nutrition Services
Prior to 2014, all Kirby Medical Center employees were able
to enroll in the hospital’s employee Wellness Program; however, participation
was limited due to the Wellness Program incentive being a discount on the
hospital’s employer-offered health insurance benefit, which many employees did
not use. The original Wellness Program was a participation-based program using
a points system, which allowed for excessive subjectivity and varying levels of
the participants’ ownership to make personal lifestyle changes to improve one’s
health. Strong administrative support, however, has allowed the rebranding of
Kirby’s Wellness Program to ‘KirbyWellness,’ complete with a ‘KirbyWellness’
logo. ‘KirbyWellness’ is a results-based program directly tied to biometric
health outcome measures and features an annual cash incentive. The incentive is
now available to all employees participating in the program, regardless of
their employment status. The health outcome measures were approved by Kirby’s
Chief Medical Officer and are based on a review of guidelines established by
the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the
Illinois Department of Transportation.
KIRBY MEDICAL CENTER – Employee Communication / Recognition
Submitted by Heidi Apperson, Director of Marketing and
Community Relations
In an effort to improve communication among employees and
build teamwork, Kirby Medical Center developed programs to enhance and improve its
internal communications including, but not limited to, employee surveys,
forums, the KirbySpace blog, Kirby Intranet, team meetings, and rounding. An
Employee Partnership program in which employee surveys were gathered and
analyzed was created, and a Patient Improvement Employee Collaboration
Committee was formed. At each meeting, patient survey results are reviewed,
goals are made, and opportunities for improvement are addressed. The objectives
of the committee are to improve service results, patient experience, and
collegial relationships by promoting the understanding of the impact of the
patient experience and colleague engagement; achieve a 95% overall mean
satisfaction score measured by Press Ganey or HCAHPS; promote the understanding
of the Employee Gain-Sharing Incentive Program; and assist leaders in
identifying solutions for department-specific problem areas.
