MCGHealth Medical Center in Augusta recently donated a tractor trailer full of out-of-date surgical equipment to health care facilities in Ivory Coast in Africa. The shipment included two operating room lights, six pallets of sterile trays, pans and two pallets of medical supplies.
"This is our third shipment...," said Trey Spivey, distribution manager for MCGHealth. "The items we donated were out of date, according to U.S. standards, but are still usable and can help save lives abroad."
MCGHealth's donation will be combined with about nine tons of products donated by other organizations.
Ivory Coast will benefit from the donation through MedShare International, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization that was established in 1998 to improve the health care of underserved populations and to save the environment from an overabundance of discarded supplies. To date, MedShare has shipped more than 420 containers of humanitarian medical aid to 73 countries.
Many nurses and surgical technicians from Georgia hospitals volunteer to help sort instruments into surgical kits for shipment, said Wills Moore, MedShare International director of operations.
SATISFIED CUSTOMERS: Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta is once again ranked No. 1 in patient satisfaction among hospitals in metro Atlanta, according to a recently released Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey.
When asked to rate the overall quality of care during their hospital stays on a scale of zero to 10 (where 0 is the worst and 10 is the best), 77 percent of Piedmont patients responded with a 9 or 10; the national and state averages are 64 percent.
Two other Piedmont Healthcare hospitals received top ratings in the survey among hospitals within a 50-mile radius of Atlanta. Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, a 42-bed community hospital in Jasper, ranked second with 74 percent of patients reporting favorable marks. Piedmont Fayette Hospital, a 143-bed acute-care community hospital in Fayetteville, tied for third place with 73 percent of patients reporting a 9 or 10 for overall satisfaction.
"We are thrilled with this recent data from HCAHPS," said Robert W. Maynard, president and CEO of Piedmont Hospital. "These results validate that our staff is living the Piedmont Promise. Our promise to the community is to provide the perfect balance between health and care.
"We believe every person who walks into Piedmont Hospital should be treated with respect and compassion by some of the world's best doctors and medical professionals using the latest medical technology."
NEW NURSING CHAIR: Shirley Quarles has been appointed chair of the department of physiological and technological nursing at the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing in Augusta.
The department focuses on the understanding and application of physiologic systems interactions, health care technology and professional nursing roles. It also is the home of the Interdisciplinary Simulation Center.
"Since joining the School of Nursing, Dr. Quarles has made invaluable contribution as a most capable and inspiring faculty leader," said Lucy Marion, dean of the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing. "She was instrumental in strengthening our partnerships with several community organizations and continues to mentor faculty and students to success."
Quarles' nursing career spans more than 30 years. She is a U.S. Army colonel and chaired the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Women Veterans.
She has received the Army Commendation Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Medal.
THE GIFT OF SIGHT: The Georgia Eye Bank has two Cobb County hospitals to its top 10 list in eye donations. WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta ranked first with 81 donors and WellStar Cobb Hospital in Austell ranked seventh with 38 donors.
"We are thrilled to have achieved this distinction," said Jerry Tillery, executive director of operations for WellStar Health System. "We know that many people benefit from the eye donations."
Georgia Eye Bank is a nonprofit organization dedicated to leadership in eye banking. The organization expects to provide tissue for approximately 1,400 surgeries this year. Since it was founded in 1961, the bank has helped to restore the sight of more than 30,000 people.
— Do you have any news briefs for Pulse? If so, send an e-mail to pulseeditor@ajc.com.
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