TRMC earns august inpatient care honor

Thibodaux Regional Medical Center CEO Greg Stock has a new trophy to add to the hospital’s awards.

The hospital received the 2008 J.D. Power and Associates Inpatient Service Award. The trophy was unveiled last Wednesday during an informal ceremony in the hospital’s surgery waiting area.

Stock, the hospital’s board of directors, and parish and city officials unveiled the trophy.

“This award doesn’t represent a few people’s accomplishments,” Stock said. “This award shows the efforts of the entire hospital to make Thibodaux Regional one of the best there is locally and nationally.”

Stock believes it is the quality patient care that Thibodaux Regional offers that has earned the facility the prestigious award, given annually to one hospital across the nation.

Although it is known mainly for its work with auto manufacturers, J.D. Power and Associates also conducts surveys for other industries. The company began doing surveys for the healthcare industry in 2005.

“Dave (James David Power III, founder of J.D. Power and Associates) is a firm believer that people should have all the information they need to make sound decisions about the services they use in their day-to-day lives,” said Kevin Leib, a J.D. Power and Associates representative who presented the award.

“With the new healthcare reform, patients want to know more information about the medical facility they are choosing, the doctors on staff and the medical professionals that operate the hospital daily. And it’s our job to give it to them,” he said.

J.D. Power and Associates polls discharged hospital patients who have had at least a one-night hospital stay about their experiences and presents the results in a National Hospital Service Performance Study.

The study measures overall patient satisfaction in five categories: dignity and respect, speed and efficiency, comfort, information and communication, and emotional support.

Based on patients’ responses to an array of questions, Leib said hospitals receive a performance score, the highest being 1,000 points. Thibodaux Regional scored an impressive 917 points, he noted.

According to Leib, this is the highest inpatient score since J.D. Power and Associates began doing surveys for the healthcare industry.

“This is one of the better hospitals in the country,” Leib said. “Your competitors will be looking to you to find the secret to better healthcare as well as trying to knock you off the top.”

Stock has been at the helm of Thibodaux Regional for more than 15 years. He said he loves being a part of an organization where the physicians and staff are committed to the same goal, striving to deliver top-notch patient care.

“This award is from the patients. It’s not something we have set down and done the figuring,” Stock said. “This helps us to continue the things we do good as well as improve the things we are lacking in.

“It’s a win-win for all. Patients get quality care and we have an outstanding hospital with a sound reputation,” he said.

“The healthcare system is a business, and we have to learn that we should run it as such,” he added. “People want to know that they are coming into a financially stable facility that can hire top-notch physicians and staff to take care of them.”

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph and Thibo-daux Mayor Charles Caillouet, who attended the ceremony, praised Thibodaux Regional.

Randolph joked that she will possibly be presenting the hospital with another award in the future for returning Lafourche Parish Councilman Daniel Lorraine back to his normal self.

Lorraine recently underwent heart bypass at the facility.

“Councilman Lorraine was probably one of those polled for this award,” she said. “And to be honest, he probably gave you a very high score because he has nothing but praise for you guys because you gave him back his life when he unexpectedly had to come here for treatment.”

Caillouet said it is truly an accomplishment when the awards start coming in one after the other.

“The people in the community see Thibodaux Regional as the hero that services quality healthcare,” he said. “I commend you on your success. It takes great leadership and sound employees to keep a business progressing as you have done over the past few years.”