The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) recently awarded North Fulton Regional Hospital Third Place in the Josh Nahum Infection Prevention & Control Special Achievement Award Category for the 2008 PHA Quality and Patient Safety Awards. This award recognizes the hospital’s achievement through an on-going patient safety project on hard wiring surgical conscience.

Although surgery carries risk, the risk of infection is far greater than it should be. Brennan, TA, Leapee LL, et al. reported in a study that in 15,000 patient records, over 9,000 preventable adverse events were identified, of which 40 percent were related to operative procedures. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that two to five percent of surgical patients in the United States develop infections. These infections can increase the length of hospital stay and cost up to $854 million per year in the United States.

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December is here, the holiday season is upon us, and 2009 is just around the corner. North Fulton Regional Hospital looks forward to the coming year with great promise as it reflects on an eventful 2008.

From new team members to new technology to a 25th Anniversary...read about how your local Level II Trauma Center and Certified Primary Sroke Center continuously has proven itself to be so much more!

Get the full story on 2008 here.

North Fulton Regional Hospital Gets the Silver.....

Anniversary that is.

This November 6 marks a milestone for North Fulton Regional Hospital as it celebrates 25 years of delivering care to those in the North Fulton area and beyond.  We celebrate the history of quality care and those that have had a hand in its delivery:

Thank you to all of our 25-Year physicians, employees and volunteers!  The dedication and committment exhibited by these individuals to the patients they serve is what helps to make North Fulton Regional Hospital a leader in healthcare.

Read more about the anniversary and the road the hospital has taken the last 25 years.

Is your knee aching...so bad that it's painful to do the most "normal" of activities?  Mike Brownlee's was...that is, it WAS.

Mike was the first patient at North Fulton Regional Hospital to receive a custom-fit knee replacement.  Today, he is back to doing the things he enjoyed before his knee became a bother.  Read on to learn about this innovative new procedure and Mike's experience.

Are you interested in learning about your knee replacement options?  North Fulton Regional Hospital will host a FREE community program --New Surgical Options for Knee Replacement -- on Tuesday, October 21 at 5:30 p.m.  Learn more and register here. (keyword search "orthopedic services")

Custom-fit knee replacement a huge plus for patients.

Summer is quickly fading, but the enthusiasm for quality at North Fulton Regional Hospital is anything but!  The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association are recognizing North Fulton Regional Hospital for its performance in treating cardiac and stroke patients using the association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM program. North Fulton Regional Hospital joins 518 other hospitals being featured in an advertisement in the July 21st “America’s Best Hospitals” issue of US News & World Report.

North Fulton Regional Hospital is one of only two hospitals in the state of Georgia and one of only 29 in the country to have reached award status in all three of the programs the American Heart Association supports. In addition to the recent Bronze award for Stroke, the hospital has also achieved the Silver award for both Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Failure.

Read the rest of this story here.

The heart of flu season has passed, making way for spring and the promise of warm weather, but not without making its mark in 2008. This tricky virus has a way of popping up unexpectedly and causing misery to even the healthiest of individuals. For this reason, vaccines are always encouraged, and at hospitals, there are firm regulations for this vaccine and others. One ICU nurse decided to take the lead on an initiative to make all units of North Fulton Regional Hospital compliant with these regulations and subsequently increase the quality of care in the process.

Kim McDuffie has been a nurse in the Neuro Trauma ICU of North Fulton Regional Hospital for nineteen years. In 2007 she, along with several others nurses, took on the challenge to participate in the nurse laddering program. This clinical advancement program for RNs takes one year to complete and seeks to promote professional growth and recognition while improving patient care and job satisfaction and providing for skills advancement, leadership development and retention.

Read more about Kim McDuffie and her project that helped enhance quality at NFRH.

The American Heart Association has awarded North Fulton Regional Hospital with the Get With The GuidelinesSM–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Bronze Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes North Fulton Regional Hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

North Fulton Regional Hospital is one of only two hospitals in the state of Georgia and one of only 29 in the country to have reached award status in all three of the programs the American Heart Association supports. In addition to this recent Bronze award for Stroke, the hospital has also achieved the Silver award for both Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Failure.

 

Read more about this prestigious accomplishment.

REHABILITATION PROVES TO BE A BLESSING FOLLOWING FORMER MARATHON RUNNER’S MULTIPLE BYPASS SURGERY

The news of heart disease is devastating. Some people become wrought with guilt over lifestyle patterns they chose over the years, many of which may have contributed to the disease. Fatty foods, cholesterol, inactivity, smoking… all of these have shown to increase risk. Other people may experience another form of frustration…that brought about by a healthy lifestyle and genetic pre-disposition to heart-related conditions.

John Finn was an avid runner. Throughout his lifetime he has run approximately 50,000 miles, participated in 25 Peachtree Road Races, seven marathons and is diligent about going to the track every morning. One morning in 2006, Finn was shocked to discover that he could not do his morning routine around the track. Experiencing an unfamiliar feeling, he called his doctor for some professional insight.

“He told me to come on in to get this checked out,” Finn said. “My pulse was normally around 56, but when I saw my doctor it was 150.” Shocked by the reading, Finn and his doctor discussed what was happening.

“He called me ‘genetically impaired’,” Finn said with a laugh, “and told me I should have had this ten years ago, but because I was in such great shape, I was able to put it off…but it would have happened eventually.” When Finn was a child, his father experienced several heart attacks, which contributed to his predisposition for heart problems. According to Finn’s physician, however, his healthy lifestyle was no match for his genes.

Read the full article here, and learn more about John  Finn's motivating story.