Blog posts

Vein Center Earns IAC Accreditation

Tue, 21 Feb 2017 19:06:32 GMT

UR Medicine Vein Center is the region’s first vascular surgery-led team to earn Intersocietal Accreditation Commission accreditation for comprehensive vein care.

'Wash-Glove-Wash,' Repeat: Campaign Extended to Promote Hand Hygiene

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 21:38:43 GMT

In 2016, we gloved up to take down healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) at SMH.
This year, we’re back for round two.

Imaging Teams Begin Shifting Outpatient Care to New Building

Fri, 03 Feb 2017 19:01:16 GMT

Imaging services is offering outpatient ultrasound scanning at UR Medicine’s new East River Road building beginning Feb. 7. Imaging is gradually relocating all adult outpatient services there and Golisano Children’s Hospital will open its Neuromedicine and Behavioral Health center, including the Levine Autism Clinic, on the third floor in April.

Strong Memorial, Golisano Children’s Hospital Recognized for Organ-Failure Care Program

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 18:08:13 GMT

UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital and Golisano Children’s Hospital have earned the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization’s Center of Excellence award for the high quality of life-saving support they provide to patients experiencing organ failure.

Golisano Children's Hospital and Strong Memorial Hospital recognized as 'Gold Safe Sleep Champions'

Thu, 13 Aug 2015 14:43:09 GMT

UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital and Strong Memorial Hospital’s Obstetrics Division were recently recognized by the as “Gold Safe Sleep Champions,” the highest designation, for their commitment to best practices and education on infant safe sleep. They are the first and only hospitals in New York State to receive the title.

UR Medicine Honored for Stroke Care

Thu, 13 Aug 2015 14:32:38 GMT

UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital has received (AHA/ASA) highest award for stroke care, including a new designation that recognizes excellence in rapid care that can save lives and improve the quality of life of stroke victims.

Ever Better Pediatric Care at Golisano Children’s Hospital

Tue, 11 Aug 2015 16:35:38 GMT

Having a child become seriously ill or injured is the stuff of parent nightmares. If or when that happens, parents hope for miracles to cure their ailing child. Western New York now has its miracle haven as the Golisano Children’s Hospital (GCH) welcomed its first families after decades of wishes, fundraising, and tireless work. Families between the Pennsylvania and Canadian borders, from Buffalo to Syracuse and beyond, now have even more reasons to come to the new GCH for the best pediatric medical care.

Strong Memorial Hospital Specialties Among U.S. News and World Report’s ‘Nation’s Best'

Fri, 07 Aug 2015 19:54:37 GMT

Four adult specialties at UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital have captured a spot in the Top 50 programs in the nation for treating complex conditions, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2015-16 ranking of America’s Best Hospitals. The rankings consider data on nearly 5,000 eligible hospitals, only 137 of which had one program or more that made it to the national list.

Your Care Team: Committed to Nonstop Improvement

Fri, 10 Apr 2015 14:40:28 GMT

What if, every single day, hospital care was being reimagined so that it was just a little bit better? A little bit safer? A little more logical? What if it were designed in ways that so clearly showed we had our patients’ biggest (and smallest) concerns in mind, right from the start?

Patient Discharge Lounge Sparks Connections, Frees Up Beds

Thu, 08 Jan 2015 15:43:26 GMT

“Patients end up not wanting to leave.” That’s what Laurel Pye, nurse manager on ’s Surgical Trauma floor, has noticed about the Patient Discharge Lounge.

Rethinking Surgical Safety

Wed, 29 Oct 2014 18:39:19 GMT

Anticipating surgery is nerve-racking enough for a patient and her family—and that’s without added worries that her operating room team might be feeling frantic in the moments leading up to her procedure. Eager to “slow down” and spend time where it matters most, ’s Perioperative faculty and staff have joined forces with their academic medical colleagues from , a hospital-owned liability insurer.

For Nurses, Many Hands (and a Single Handoff Tool) Make Safe Work

Mon, 19 May 2014 19:13:38 GMT

There’s no arguing that a big job whose tasks are divvied up among many people goes faster than if one person tackles it. But making the pieces of those tasks come back together unruffled can be tricky when they’re complex, as health issues often are. As of March, nurses at UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals added a handoff tool in eRecord to their proverbial tool belts. The tool aggregates vital patient info--snapping together the pieces of her story for a clean handoff.

Surgical Oncology Patients Welcomed to New 5th Floor Wilmot ‘Hotel’

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 14:23:51 GMT

This spring the Wilmot Cancer Center opened the final floor of its vertical expansion, a space dedicated to post-surgical oncology patients who typically stay for two to seven days. On paper, this is a 27,000-square-foot light-filled space with 28 private rooms. But the experience of seeing it has the wow factor of a well-appointed hotel.

�鶹��ƵTeam Helps Nursing Home Referrals Go Electronic, Makes Relics of Fax Machines

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:28:23 GMT

It’s electric! Boogie woogie. Over the past year or so, a pioneering team made up of staff from Strong Memorial Hospital, Highland Hospital, Highlands at Brighton, Highlands Living Center, and ePartner planned and implemented the capability to refer patients electronically to nursing homes across Monroe County. Talk about an “Electric Slide”!

‘UPP’ and Running: Care Improvement Program Melds URMC’s Biggest Priorities

Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:28:38 GMT

Just a month ago, Strong Memorial Hospital rolled out the “Unit-based Performance Program” (UPP), a major initiative that will—by braiding the three together—help inpatient units better coordinate their improvement efforts around 1) patient safety, 2) the ICARE experience, and 3) operational efficiency.

Curbing Readmissions: Tricky Business, but �鶹��ƵNamed ‘Top Performer’

Fri, 11 Oct 2013 15:54:29 GMT

When it comes to the thorny problem of cutting hospital readmissions rates, a new report cites �鶹��Ƶas a top performer. In early October, leaders from “Best Practices for Better Care”—a patient quality- and safety-improvement initiative quarterbacked by both the University HealthSystem Consortium and the Association of American Medical Colleges—reached out, asking �鶹��Ƶleaders to spill their secrets for success.

Scores Prove: Hospitalists Paving Way for Better Patient Experience

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 18:09:34 GMT

As chief of URMC’s Division of Hospital Medicine, Andrew Rudmann, M.D., and fellow hospitalists are looking to make the hospital more intelligible, and a little smaller. Their techniques—handing business cards to patients, calling home to “check up” after they’ve left— are certainly creative. More importantly, they’re working.

Pilot Program Pushes Back Against Nurse Injury

Thu, 15 Aug 2013 15:41:18 GMT

With all the heavy lifting nurses do—quite literally putting their backs into their work—they’re exposed to a very hard-to-cure problem that could spell lifelong discomfort.

New ‘Virtual Care Center’ Choreographs Post-Discharge Care

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 16:18:33 GMT

As hospitals around the country work hard at winnowing down readmission rates, a new grant from the Greater Rochester Health Foundation will give URMC’s Strong Memorial Hospital the chance to try a fresh approach: A “virtual care center.”

Rapid Response Team Intervenes Before Situations Warrant ‘Code Level’ Care

Thu, 01 Aug 2013 14:38:08 GMT

Over time, most caregivers develop a sort of sixth sense—a trained ability to notice subtle clues and anticipate when a patient might heading for a dangerous turn. And it’s Mark Ott’s job, as he heads up Strong Memorial’s Adult Rapid Response Team, to help staff hone that instinct.

Say Cheese! I’m Your Nurse

Mon, 29 Jul 2013 19:12:20 GMT

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a big splash—like 5-1600’s decision a couple years back to begin hanging nurses’ snapshots in patients’ rooms.

Committee Taking Great Pains to Keep Patients Comfortable

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 14:05:32 GMT

Understanding, measuring, and managing pain can be slippery matters...but they're important to get a handle on. A team at Strong Memorial is taking a closer look at keeping patients comfortable, and the work finds a foothold with good communication.

Thumbs Up: Strong Memorial Recognized as Surgical Care Quality Leader

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:42:48 GMT

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield recently awarded Strong Memorial Hospital a Certificate of Excellence for achieving the overall highest performance in complying with the Surgical Care Improvement Project measures for 2012.

Job-Specific ICARE Behaviors Crystallize

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:30:06 GMT

We continue our zealous work delivering the “ICARE experience” to patients, families and each other.

In fact, over the past several months, we’ve taken significant steps, meeting with distinct job families (e.g., providers, ambulatory patient representatives, nurses, pharmacy techs) and carefully voting on sets of concrete, job-specific behaviors that, done consistently, will deliver an exceptional experience not only to our patients and families but to employees, as well.

Infection Prevention, Environmental Services Team Up to Expand ‘Cleaning Grid'

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:54:14 GMT

Lather well. Sing Happy Birthday twice. Don’t forget to wash beneath nails and between fingers.

After years of health care workers maintaining a hyper-focus on clean hands, the pendulum is starting to swing in another direction: Renewed national concern around environmental cleanliness.

Helmets Protect Patients from Falls

Tue, 01 May 2012 18:38:44 GMT

With research showing that hospitalized patients are at least twice, possibly three times, as likely to fall as people in the general population, teams at Strong Memorial Hospital have been eagerly investigating fresh ways to keep patients safe.

In Search of Silence: Noise Reduction Efforts Afoot

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:45:33 GMT

Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” was extremely popular in the mid-1960s--in fact, the song was arguably one of the most iconic of its generation. Today, for hospitals across the country, the “sounds of silence” are just as momentous--they’re one of the figurative gold standards caregivers chase in the quest to achieve higher levels of patient satisfaction.

Leadership-Staff Retreat Offers Big-Picture Perspective

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:17:04 GMT

It was only 7:30 a.m., but the room was already pulsing with Black Eyed Peas’ ballad "I Gotta Feeling” as staff sipped coffee and scribbled down answers to trivia questions, eagerly awaiting the start of Strong Memorial’s first ever cross-disciplinary retreat with hospital leadership.

Accidental Exposures Call for Swift Action

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:46:27 GMT

“Mine was a freak accident that could happen to anyone.” Humbling words from a distinguished researcher whose resume boasts three patents, the directorship of two prominent �鶹��Ƶcenters (the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, and the Center on Aging), more than 100 scientific articles and three books.

New 'Global' Behaviors for Living Out Patient- and Family-Centered Care

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:53:56 GMT

Anyone who’s had a loved one in the hospital knows that seemingly small behaviors — like caregivers introducing themselves, smiling, and making eye contact — have the power to transform an entire experience. Appreciating that such simple behavior can have tremendous impact, as an institution we’re putting new emphasis around living out our ICARE values of integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence.

Hospitals Strive for ‘Safe Transitions’ Home

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 19:02:41 GMT

Hospitalized patients pine for the comforts of home — but staying home after discharge proves elusive for many.