Berkshire Medical Center Sits Atop National Quality Ranking

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Medical Center is ranked as the best performer in Patient Safety Indicators in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

BMC is ranked number one in the nation when compared to over 3,200 hospitals for its composite measure of Patient Safety Indicators, or PSI-90. The PSI-90 Patient Safety Indicators were developed by the Agency for Research and Quality, and provides an overview of hospital-level quality as it relates to a set of potentially preventable hospital-related events associated with harmful outcomes for patients. The lower a hospital’s composite score, the better, and Berkshire Medical Center has attained the lowest score in the nation for data analyzing the period between July 2013 and June of 2015, the most current data available.

"Several years ago, led by direction from the Berkshire Health Systems Board of Trustees and our senior leadership team, we implemented an ongoing quality performance improvement program designed to elevate Berkshire Medical Center to among the safest hospitals in the country," said David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. "This objective, publicly available data, validates the success of our physicians, nurses and all staff in providing our patients and our community with the highest standard of care. All who work at BMC should be proud of this remarkable achievement."


"Attaining this level of excellence is a testament to the dedication of our entire staff, working as a team, to provide the best clinical care in the safest environment," said Diane Kelly, BMC's chief operating officer. "Our community expects and deserves nothing less."

The Patient Safety Indicators that are included in the PSI-90 are rates for: pressure ulcer, iatrogenic Pneumothorax, central venous catheter-related blood stream infection, postoperative hip fracture, perioperative hemorrhage or hematoma, postoperative physiologic and metabolic derangement, perioperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, postoperative sepsis, postoperative wound dehiscence, and accidental puncture of laceration.

"Berkshire Medical Center's commitment is to ensure that our quality is at the highest level, for every patient, every encounter, every day," said Dr. Gray Ellrodt, BMC's chief quality officer and chairman of the Department of Medicine. "This is ingrained in everything we do and at every level of the organization."

 


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Pittsfield Firefighters Battle Early Morning Blaze in Extreme Cold

iBerkshires.com Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – No injuries were reported after firefighters extinguished a fire in a two-story detached barn and garage at 566 South St. early Sunday morning.
 
The Pittsfield Fire Department just after 2 a.m. responded to reports of a building “fully involved” with the blaze.
 
“All personnel battled the blaze under extreme cold conditions with the main body of fire being brought under control within an hour,” according to a news release from the department.
 
The two-alarm fire brought all on-duty personnel to the scene, where they remained until about 6 a.m. to extinguish all remaining hot spots.
 
Hinsdale Fire Department was asked to respond with its firefighter rehab bus “due to the extreme cold conditions,” according to the news release.
 
There are three residences within 100 feet of the barn, but none were in danger during the fire, Deputy Chief Neil Myers said in the release.
 
The owner’s residence was not damaged in the blaze.
 
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