Southlake Regional Health Centre is proud to be recognized by the American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®) as one of 78 participating hospitals that achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2021.
“We are thrilled to be named an ACS NSQIP Meritorious hospital,” says Puneet Sandhu, Director, Surgical Program, Southlake. “Only 78 hospitals out of 685 were recognized with this distinction. Our achievement is a testament to the amazing teamwork of the surgical team at Southlake, as well as our dedication to patient care.”
As a participant in ACS NSQIP, Southlake is required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures, as well as collect data that assesses patient safety to inform improvements in the quality of surgical care.
The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving a meritorious composite score in either an “All Cases” category or a category which includes only “High Risk” cases. Southlake has been recognized on the “All Cases” Meritorious list. Risk-adjusted data from the July 2022 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2021 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes.
“Southlake’s surgical team provides compassionate care for patients while they prepare for, during and recover from surgery,” says Dr. John Randle, Physician Leader, Surgical Program, Southlake. “They do everything they can do keep patients safe until they are able to return home. This recognition of their hard work is so well-deserved.”
Southlake and the other commended hospitals achieved the distinction based on their outstanding composite quality score related to patient management in the following clinical areas:
| · mortality | · pneumonia |
| · unplanned intubation | · renal failure |
| · cardiac incidents | · surgical site infections |
| · urinary tract infections | · ventilator use for more than 48 hours |
“We are so proud of the entire surgical team for receiving this distinction from the American College of Surgeons,” says Barbara Steed, Executive Vice President, Clinical Services, Southlake. “The safety of everyone who receives care at Southlake is our top priority, which is demonstrated through the results of this assessment.”
ACS NSQIP is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. The goal of ACS NSQIP is to reduce surgical morbidity (infection or illness related to a surgical procedure), surgical mortality (death related to a surgical procedure) and to provide a firm foundation for surgeons to apply what is known as the “best scientific evidence” to the practice of surgery. Furthermore, when adverse effects from surgical procedures are reduced and/or eliminated, a reduction in health care costs follows. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the American College of Surgeons and is currently used in nearly 850 adult and pediatric hospitals.
The Surgical Program at Southlake would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Shea Chia, NSQIP Surgeon Champion, and Jennifer Luebke, NSQIP Clinical Reviewer, who have been dedicated to championing this work for many years.
