SUMMIT PACIFIC RECEIVES QUALITY-BASED ACCREDITATION FROM DNV

Summit Pacific Receives Washington State Hospital Association’s Rural Quality Everyday Extraordinary Award for Opioid Crisis Intervention

November 3, 2020

Aaron DeBard, grants program manager, Dr. Shawn Andrews, Amber Miller, MA, Beth Hindbaugh, RN, Catherine Thorpe, RN and Rebecca Bozeman, PA-C are integral to the Medication Assisted Treatment Clinic team.
(ELMA, WA) – The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) announced that Summit Pacific’s “Rural Opioid Crisis Intervention Quality Improvement” has been awarded WSHA’s 2020 Rural Quality Everyday Extraordinary Award.

This award recognizes outstanding improvement in the safety and quality of rural healthcare. Summit Pacific received the award for its work in starting a Medication-Assisted-Treatment (MAT) Clinic for people dealing with substance use.

Sue Bergmann, WSHA’s Senior Director of Safety & Quality said, “I appreciate all that you do to ensure the high quality of care at Summit Pacific. Your dedication and attention to safety and quality is what helps make Summit Pacific an outstanding healthcare facility. Our rural members often demonstrate exceptional resourcefulness, teamwork and creativity when tackling quality improvement aims.”

In February 2019 Summit Pacific Medical Center started a low-barrier walk-in MAT initiation clinic that has seen remarkable success in engaging those struggling with opioid use disorder (OUD). The MAT Clinic’s success relies upon the dedication of the staff who engage the population with love, care and commitment to their success. The clinic has made a major impact within the community and lives have been changed.

One of the MAT Clinic’s earliest patients who is still making strides in recovery but wished to remain anonymous stated, “It’s like a whole new world for me. Once I realized there was something that could help me and people that were there for me, it opened my eyes big time. I can’t believe how much different my live is now…night and day.”

This effort is among the most successful clinics supported by the state opioid response effort. Summit Pacific’s MAT Clinic serves as a major part of the Grays Harbor Opioid Response Consortium and the lead for the federal grant to support it in an ongoing effort to coordinate opioid efforts throughout the county. Medication assisted treatment is key for increasing access to lifesaving medication and reducing opioid overdose deaths.

The winner of the Rural Quality Award is usually recognized during an awards ceremony at WSHA’s Chelan Rural Health Conference, which was canceled this year. Awardees will be recognized at a WSHA Member Event later this year.

View full press release here.