November 20, 2019
The Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF) has hosted the Delaware Valley Patient Safety and Quality Award for the past seventeen years. This program is one of many ways in which HCIF promotes best practices in health care patient safety and quality throughout the region.
The top 10 winners for this year’s award program demonstrated fulfillment of the award’s evaluation criteria, which includes significant and sustained improvement in quality or patient safety; innovation; leadership and organizational commitment to improvement; a multidisciplinary approach; and the potential for replication in other healthcare organizations.
We are pleased to announce:
- First place goes to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for their initiative, “The Patient Safety Escape Room: A Novel Orientation Activity.”
- Second place goes to Temple University Hospital for their initiative, “Opioid Stewardship in an Opioid Epidemic.”
- Third place goes to Main Line Health for their initiative, “Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS): Innovative Improvement in Surgery.”
Please click here to watch the videos for these three winning initiatives.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Team with HCIF President
Pictured: Gretchen Diemer, MD, Kate Flynn, Rebecca Jaffe, MD, Carol Kelly

Temple University Hospital Team with HCIF President
Pictured: Jonathan Shinefeld, Kate Flynn, Steve Carson, Tony Reed, Henry Pitt, MD

Main Line Health Team with HCIF President
Pictured: Mark Angelo, MD, Brian Duke, Neal Shah, Joyce Holmwood, Joseph Gobern, MD, Sean Rowland, Jack Lynch, Lan Nguyen, Kate Flynn, Ronald Romano, Pat Ross, MD, Shelly Buck, James Paradis
The following entries placed in the top ten:
Albert Einstein Medical Center
A Multi-Faceted and Interdisciplinary Approach to Reducing Cesarean Section
Einstein Medical Center Montgomery
Improving Turning Compliance and Reduction of Pressure Injuries
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Improving Outcomes in Patients with Severe Radiation-Induced Dysphagia
Main Line Health
Implementing a Multifaceted Blood Product Management Program
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Center for Emergency Engagement: The Evolution of a Peer-Led Model
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Reducing the Number of Missed Doses for Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis
University of Pennsylvania Health System
A System-Wide, Data-Driven Initiative to Improve Opioid Stewardship