Oak Ridge Today

Forbes names Covenant Health one of ‘America’s Best Employers’

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Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

Covenant Health, parent company of Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, has been named one of “America’s Best Employers” by Forbes magazine and is the highest-ranking Tennessee organization to receive the designation this year. Only seven Tennessee firms made the list of 500 top large companies, a press release said.

Covenant Health was ranked 38th on the list this year, the health system’s second year to be ranked as one of America’s Best Employers by the national business publication. The 2017 lists include the best large and midsize companies in the United States.

Companies and organizations in the top 38 along with Covenant Health included such major institutions as Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Costco, Facebook, Sandia National Laboratories, Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts, Duke University, Publix, Michelin, Southwest Airlines, and NASA. Covenant Health was listed 10th among hospitals and healthcare organizations and is the only East Tennessee healthcare entity selected in 2017.

Jim VanderSteeg

Jim VanderSteeg

“Covenant Health is proud to receive the Forbes designation for the second year in a row and to be included in such a prestigious list of national and international companies and organizations,” Covenant Health President and Chief Executive Office Jim VanderSteeg said. “Our employees make a commitment to support our health system’s pledge of excellence, which includes putting our patients first, excellence in everything we do, and making Covenant Health the first and best choice. This commitment creates a workplace environment that instills pride among all of us at Covenant Health.

“Our employees are essential to our health system’s success and to accomplishing our mission of improving the quality of life in our communities,” he added. “I am grateful for their expertise and dedication and for the compassionate care they give our patients every day.”

Forbes partnered with statistics firm Statista to compile data from a survey of more than 30,000 U.S. employees, 84 percent of whom work full-time. Employees were contacted anonymously online without the involvement of their employers, and respondents represented the U.S. workforce by gender, age, region, education, and ethnicity. According to Forbes, the direct score which determines placement and title as a top employer is derived from the question: “How likely are you to recommend your employer on a scale of 0-10?” [Read more…]

Methodist recognized for ‘Straight A’ status in hospital safety

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Methodist Medical Center Main Entrance

Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge is pictured above.

 

Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge has continued its “Straight A” recognition in hospital safety scores that were launched four years ago. MMC has never received a grade lower than “A” since the The Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Scores started in June 2012, a press release said.

Also receiving “A” grades in the Spring 2016 scores were Fort Loudoun Medical Center, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, LeConte Medical Center, and Roane Medical Center. The ranking mean the hospitals are among the safest in the United States, a press release said.

“It is gratifying to be a part of an organization with such a long-standing track record of quality,” said Jeremy Biggs, Methodist Medical Center president and chief administrative officer. “To be among such an elite group of hospitals to have received this type of national recognition and validation is truly an honor.”

“Patient safety and a constant focus on the quality of care we provide are top priorities for Covenant Health,” said Mike Belbeck, executive vice president of operations. “We are pleased that five Covenant hospitals received Leapfrog’s highest scores, and we will continue to focus on patient safety as part of our ongoing commitment to excellence in all aspects of patient care.” [Read more…]

Covenant Health has leadership changes, new president at MMC

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Jeremy Biggs

Jeremy Biggs

Mike Belbeck, the current president of Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, will become the executive vice president of operations for Covenant Health, and a new president and chief administrative officer will succeed Belbeck at MMC on April 1.

The leadership changes were announced by Covenant Health on Tuesday.

Covenant Health, which is headquartered in Knoxville and the region’s largest employer, had previously announced its current president and chief executive officer, Anthony L. Spezia, will become CEO emeritus, and Jim VanderSteeg, current executive vice president of operations, will become president and CEO.

Belbeck, who is also chief administrative officer, or CAO, at Methodist Medical Center, will succeed VanderSteeg as the health system’s executive vice president of operations.

Jeremy Biggs, president and chief administrative officer of Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville, will succeed Belbeck as president and CAO of Methodist Medical Center. [Read more…]

VanderSteeg to be president, CEO of Covenant Health, which includes MMC

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Jim VanderSteeg

Jim VanderSteeg (Photo by Covenant Health)

Covenant Health, the major health system headquartered in Knoxville and the region’s largest employer, has announced plans for a leadership transition. Effective April 1, 2016, Anthony L. “Tony” Spezia, Covenant’s long-time president and chief executive officer, will become CEO emeritus and Jim VanderSteeg, executive vice-president of operations, will assume the role of president and CEO of the health system.

“This announcement is a culmination of several years of succession planning by Covenant’s board and our CEO,” said Larry Mauldin, chairman of Covenant Health’s board of directors. “Tony Spezia has been Covenant’s CEO for over 15 years and has led a remarkable business turnaround which has made Covenant Health one of the leading health systems in the country.

“The Covenant board wants to assure that the organization continues the successful strategies and commitment to quality that has led to the health system’s success,” he said. “Jim VanderSteeg has worked closely with Tony for the past eight years and has demonstrated that he is well qualified to lead Covenant Health.” [Read more…]

Covenant Health hospitals earn ‘A’ grades for patient safety

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Methodist Medical Center Main Entrance

Methodist Medical Center, Fort Loudoun Medical Center, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System, and Parkwest Medical Center have been recognized for their dedication to patient safety by being awarded an “A” grade in the Spring 2015 Hospital Safety Score, a press release said.

The Safety Score rates how well hospitals protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries, and infections within the hospital.

In addition to receiving As for the spring quarter, both Methodist Medical Center and Parkwest Medical Center received “Straight A” recognition, signifying that the hospitals have never received a grade lower than “A” from the Hospital Safety Score since the Score first launched in June 2012, the press release said. They are among 182 hospitals to receive the recognition. [Read more…]

Covenant Health’s heart surgery program receives highest ratings

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Methodist Medical Center Entrance at Night

The main entrance to Methodist Medical Center, a Covenant Health hospital in Oak Ridge, is pictured above at night. (Photo courtesy Covenant Health)

 

Covenant Health’s cardiac program has received the highest quality designation from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, an organization dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung, and esophagus, a press release said. The society represents nearly 7,000 surgeons, researchers, and allied health care professionals worldwide.

Based on data submitted from Covenant Health’s elite heart hospitals—Parkwest, Fort Sanders Regional, and Methodist medical centers—Covenant’s cardiac program received a three-star quality ranking in the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, regarded as the world’s premier clinical registry for adult cardiac surgery, the press release said. About 95 percent of U.S. programs that perform adult cardiac surgery participate in the database, but only about 10-15 percent of participants receive the three-star designation.

The cardiac team was recognized for quality outcomes for coronary artery bypass graft, or CABG, a surgical procedure to create new paths around narrowed and blocked arteries to allow blood flow to the heart. The quality designations are based on data measures for U.S. hospitals in several areas related to CABG surgery, including survival and complication rates, use of surgical techniques shown to deliver better outcomes, and appropriate use of perioperative medications. Covenant’s cardiac surgery team performed above national averages in overall composite scores for the study. [Read more…]