July 2, 2009

Accolades

Congratulations to the following members of the UPMC community who have received recent public recognition.

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC has been named the state lead center for Pennsylvania in a national network of health care institutions collaborating to improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain injury in children and to support research. As the lead center for Pennsylvania, Children’s will develop a master plan of care for children and young adults with brain injuries in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Children’s Institute, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and other institutions. A committee of researchers and rehabilitation experts selected one institution as the lead center in each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Rachel Berger, MD, MRH, a specialist in the Child Advocacy Center at Children’s Hospital, helped draft the plan for the National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury network.

The Activities Department of Heritage Place, one of UPMC’s Senior Communities, was honored in June as the activities department of the Year by the National Certification Council for Activity Professionals (NCCAP). The NCCAP is a national professional certification organization that exclusively recognizes and certifies activity professionals who deliver activity services in health care facilities. The Heritage Place activities team was honored because of their dedication to the residents and for providing a positive, friendly, and cheerful atmosphere.

Robert Henderson, assistant vice president of Strategic Planning and Business Development for UPMC Passavant, recently was appointed examiner to the board of the 2009 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Composed of approximately 500 leading experts selected from industry, professional and trade organizations, education and health care organizations, and the United States government, the board members all meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition. As an examiner, Mr. Henderson is responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the award, which was created by public law in 1987 and is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive. The award program is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in close cooperation with the private sector. The American Society for Quality (ASQ) administers the program.

UPMC recently was awarded an “A” by the American Medical Student Association for its Industry Relations Policy designed to prevent conflicts of interests between physicians and drug and medical device companies. UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine received the top grade for implementing the policy, which bars free meals and gifts from pharmaceutical representatives and requires physicians to get drug samples from a central, web-based supplier rather than drug company sales representatives.

UPMC has been recognized as a “2009 Best Employer for Healthy Lifestyles” by the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) for its commitment to a healthy workplace and for helping employees and families make better choices about their own health and well-being. Out of the 63 large employers recognized, UPMC was named one of 17 “Platinum” winners for having an established healthy lifestyle program through UPMC Health Plan’s MyHealth with measurable success and documented outcomes, a corporatewide culture of health, and a specific commitment to improving employees’ well-being through healthy choices.  

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