December 2, 2021
HANYS awards 2021 Pinnacle Award to Garnet Health Medical Center - Catskills
Hospital honored with quality and patient safety award for its multi-tiered COVID-19 surge response
Rensselaer, NY — The Healthcare Association of New York State is pleased to present a 2021 Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety to Garnet Health Medical Center - Catskills for A Surge Like No Other – How a Sole Community Provider Overcame All Odds. Learn about their initiative in our video profile.
Garnet Health Medical Center – Catskills is a sole community provider in the heart of the rural Catskill Mountains. In March 2020, as COVID-19 first peaked in New York City, they encountered surging volumes of patients with the virus; in the first two weeks of April 2020, cases in their county were the highest per capita of anywhere in the United States. Focused on patient and staff safety and the continual use of quality improvement methods, Garnet Health Medical Center – Catskills rose to the challenge. At their peak, the hospital increased acute care capacity by 125% of normal, with 72% of the capacity occupied by COVID-19 patients. Despite the significant surge, the hospital saw patient harms stay at a minimum, an improved culture of safety and staff engagement and a notably low healthcare provider infection rate.
The Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety recognizes and encourages broad dissemination of successful quality improvement and innovative patient safety initiatives in four categories based on organization size and type. Award honorees are members of HANYS’ Commitment to Excellence, a statewide program designed to recognize HANYS’ member commitment and ongoing efforts to improve quality and patient safety.
Garnet Health Medical Center – Catskills is the second of four honorees to be announced this fall. Learn more about all of this year’s honorees on our awards webpage.
About HANYS
The Healthcare Association of New York State is New York’s statewide hospital and continuing care association, representing nonprofit and public hospitals, nursing homes, home care agencies and other healthcare organizations. HANYS is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the health of individuals and communities by providing leadership, representation and service to healthcare providers and systems across the entire continuum of care.
