Griffin Hospital President to Attend Trump's Address to Congress

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy on Monday announced that President & CEO of Derby’s Griffin Hospital Patrick A. Charmel will join him in attending President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.

Charmel is recognized as a leader of the hospital industry’s effort to achieve healthcare’s triple aim of improving the patient experience, improving the health of populations and reducing the cost of care. He has been a strong advocate of delivering system transformation to produce higher value health care, which, along with health insurance coverage expansion, is a foundational goal of the Affordable Care Act (the ACA).
         
President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are threatening to repeal the ACA, which has provided health insurance coverage and new benefits to millions of Americans, and reduced federal health spending.

“Patrick has spent decades working to improve patient care and services for people in Connecticut, and I’m so glad he’ll be joining me tomorrow night,” said Murphy. “When I talk with people across our state, I can hear the fear in their voices that the insurance they depend on will be stripped away from them. That’s why I’m fighting misguided efforts to repeal the health care millions rely on. I’ll keep working with Connecticut leaders like Patrick to continue to advance patient care and make the practical changes we need to improve care and control costs.”

“The ACA has provided approximately 300,000 additional Connecticut residents with access to medical care and preventive services, with the state’s percentage of uninsured adults dropping from 9.4 to 6 percent, one of the lowest in the nation,” said Patrick Charmel, President and CEO of Griffin Hospital in Derby.

“To increase the positive impact of coverage expansion and to ensure that reforms implemented are sustainable, the state of Connecticut and its healthcare providers have embraced delivery system innovation and transformation with the goal of improving healthcare quality, equity and efficiency,” Charmel went on. “Healthcare providers have developed new capabilities and made significant infrastructure investments and commitments to facilitate the transition to value-based care, which will help achieve the President’s stated goals of providing better coverage at a lower cost for all Americans.  We hope any modifications or replacements to the ACA would continue to support our effort to ensure healthcare access and quality for all citizens.”

Griffin Hospital is a 160-bed acute care community hospital serving more than 130,000 residents of the Lower Naugatuck Valley Region. Griffin Hospital has won numerous awards for their industry-leading patient satisfaction ratings, patient safety, and quality performance, and is the only Connecticut hospital to be named both a Joint Commission top quality performer and receive The Leapfrog Group’s “A” grade for patient safety five times in a row.

(This is a press release from U.S. Sen. Murphy's office)

Planetree chief to co-chair national health agency

DERBY – The National Priorities Partnership has named Susan Frampton, PhD,  president of Planetree Inc. in Derby, as the new co-chair of the group.

The NPP is a National Quality Forum -convened partnership of 52 major national organizations with a shared vision to achieve better health, and a safe, equitable, and value-driven healthcare system.

Frampton has worked for more  than 10 years with Planetree, a not-for-profit advocacy, consultation and membership organization.
Planetree works with a growing network of hospitals and continuing care communities around the world to implement Planetree’s comprehensive patient-and resident-centered model of care, resulting in improvements in both clinical and operational outcomes.

Planetree is a part of Griffin Health Services with its headquarters in Griffin Hospital, 130 Division St.

Frampton has served as a member of the NPP since 2009, identifying strategies to improve safety, quality and patient-centered outcomes for the U.S. healthcare system.

She served in 2011 on NPP’s Better Care Subcommittee, which helped to further shape the National Quality Strategy (NQS) – a set of goals to support efforts to improve the quality of health and healthcare.  She also served as co-chair of the NPP (Re) admissions Action Team, which developed and executed strategies to safely reduce avoidable readmissions and increase the uptake of patient-centered team-based care delivery models.

“Since joining NPP, Planetree has added a critical layer of perspective regarding patient-centered care and the voice of the patient in meeting the goals of the NQS,” said NPP Co-Chair Bernie Rosof.  “I am very much looking forward to working together with Susan as we continue to advance the goals of the National Quality Strategy.”

As co-chair, Frampton will serve a three-year term, co-leading the Partnership alongside Bernie Rosof.
The NPP partners collaborate with one another and with broader stakeholder groups to advance the NQS priorities and goals; demonstrate collective commitment to catalyze efforts around national priorities and goals; and seek opportunities to communicate with one another and stakeholders beyond NPP about aligning efforts with the NQS to improve health and healthcare. 

Past NPP co-chairs include Don Berwick, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Peggy O’Kane, President of the National Committee for Quality Assurance;  and Helen Darling, President of the National Business Group on Health. Bernie Rosof, MD, immediate past chair of the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement convened by the American Medical Association, was named co-chair in 2010.

“We currently have an unprecedented opportunity to meaningfully engage patients and families in healthcare quality improvement efforts. I look forward to working with Dr. Rosof, the NPP members and NQF staff as well as CMS’ Partnership for Patients to ensure that the voices of patients and caregivers are the foundation of our improvement strategies," Frampton said.

In addition to her work with the NPP, Frampton participated on The Joint Commission’s Expert Advisory Panel on culturally competent patient-centered care standards, NQF’s Care Coordination Steering Team and the Institute of Medicine’s review panel for their 2009 publication on integrative medicine.
She serves as a faculty member for the Interagency Institute for Federal Health Care Executives (Arlington, Va.) each year, and speaks internationally on the connections between patient-centered care, quality and patient safety.
She has authored numerous publications and is a frequently sought-after speaker. 

“It has been a privilege to engage in the immensely important work of the NPP,” said Helen Darling, outgoing NPP co-chair, “and to work closely with Susan over the last two years on the Readmissions Work Group. From that direct experience, I know she will be a wonderful, inspired leader, and work so well with Dr. Rosof. We are all thrilled that Susan has agreed to move into this role. I look forward to continuing to work closely with her and Dr. Rosof to promote the NPP’s goals of achieving healthy communities and safe, affordable, and equitable care, including through the Partnership for Patients.”

About NQF:

NQF operates a three-part mission to improve the quality of American healthcare by:

• building consensus on national priorities and goals for performance improvement and working in partnership to achieve them;
• endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance; and
• promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs. 

About Planetree:

Founded in 1978 by a San Francisco patient who endured a traumatic hospitalization, Planetree has been at the forefront of the effort to personalize, humanize and demystify the healthcare system for more than three decades.
Today, the Planetree membership network is a global community of acute care hospitals, continuing care facilities, and outpatient clinics, each at various phases of the journey to transform their health care by considering every aspect of the healthcare experience from the perspective of their patients, and reconnecting staff to their passion for caring for others.

A complete list of Planetree hospitals is available to download at www.planetree.org.

The above is taken from a press release from Griffin Hospital. 

Love babies? Of course!

Griffin Hospital wins Baby-Friendly designation 

 

Several first-time moms and their babies attended a celebration Thursday of Griffin Hospital's designation as a Baby-Friendly hospital. Pictured from left are Alina Probierz of Seymour with Liliana Nowak, nine months; Meghan Cole of Milford with Ella, 11 months; and Jaimie Kassheimer of Ansonia with Zach Kassheimer, nine months. Patricia Villers/Register


Griffin is one of only five hospitals in Connecticut to receive the designation. See story today for more on this upbeat award.

Crisco backs Supreme Court ruling on health care

State Sen. Joseph J. Crisco, Jr., D-Woodbridge, Senate chair of the legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee, today embraced the decision handed down by the United States Supreme Court upholding the major tenets of the federal Affordable Care Act. 

Crisco said many aspects of healthcare reform undertaken by the federal government have already been enacted in Connecticut.

As insurance committee chairman Crisco has successfully expanded insurance coverage to include new screening and diagnostic procedures, has worked to improve consumer options and increase transparency with regard to insurance rates, and has supported economies of scale, giving more people access to coverage through insurance pooling.

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling provides dramatic reaffirmation that we’re on the right track with regard to healthcare reform in Connecticut and encourages us to recommit to the process already underway,” Crisco said. “The goal remains to provide increased access to affordable, high-quality healthcare – we believe expanding the pool of those insured sufficiently spreads risk and responsibility to control costs for individuals, families, businesses, and both private and public insurers.”

Crisco said Connecticut’s Health Insurance Exchange is another initiative meant to make information about health insurance options available to residents, and will play a key role as the state continues preparing for full ACA implementation in 2014.

“Connecticut has made great strides in its approach to improved healthcare, through preventative care, expanded options for consumers and insurance providers alike, and with optional, extended coverage for children through the age of 26,” Crisco said. “Today’s decision upholds our belief that effective healthcare reform must include all stakeholders, must be comprehensive in its scope in terms of coverage, cost, and eligibility, and perhaps most importantly of all, must be ongoing.”

“I heartily endorse the decision announced today and look forward to further implementation of healthcare reform in Connecticut so more residents have access to affordable, meaningful health insurance coverage,” Crisco said.

This is from a release from Crisco's Senate office.