News Releases

Butterworth Hospital Progressive Care Unit Earns Quality Award

The Progressive Care Unit on floor 6 South at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital has received the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence, given by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). The award recognizes the nation’s top adult, progressive and pediatric critical care units. 

This is the first Spectrum Health progressive care unit to receive this honor. Last fall the adult critical care unit at Blodgett Hospital earned the award. Earlier this year, the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Butterworth Hospital earned the award for the second time.

According to the AACN, this award represents extraordinary commitment to high quality critical care standards and dedication to the exceptional care of patients and their families.  As a Beacon Award recipient, the Progressive Care Unit excelled in the following areas, as measured against evidence-based national criteria:

• Recruitment and retention
• Education, training and mentoring
• Research and evidence-based practice
• Patient outcomes
• Leadership and organization ethics
• Healing environment

 “This is a remarkable achievement for our staff in this unit,” said Shawn Ulreich, chief nursing executive and vice president, patient care services, Spectrum Health Hospital Group. “Our staff and physicians selected this recognition as a goal and worked hard to meet the standards set by AACN. We are very proud of all of our units that have earned this distinction.”

Beacon Award units realize many benefits of having met rigid criteria for excellence, high-quality standards and exceptional care of patients and patient’ families:

• Influence and Recognition: Units that participate in the Beacon Award process help set the standards for what constitutes an excellent acute or critical care environment through the collection of evidence-based information. Patient safety and quality programs, such as the Leapfrog Group Hospital Quality and Safety Survey, consider Beacon achievement in their evaluation process.
• Credibility: Consumers, who are paying much closer attention today to quality-of-care factors with respect to their own health care, will take this level of recognition into consideration when choosing a hospital for care or treatment.
• Recruitment and Retention: Prospective employees will recognize a Beacon Award unit as a healthy work environment, a place where quality of care is tied directly to quality of staff. Nurses who work in these units will recognize that their skills and expertise are appreciated and valued, boosting employee morale.

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world, representing the interests of more than 500,000 acute and critical care nurses. Its international headquarters are located in Aliso Viejo, California. Founded in 1969, the Association has more than 240 chapters worldwide and is working toward a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families, where acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. Additional information about AACN is available online at www.aacn.org or by calling (800) 899-2226.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan that offers a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, a collection of seven hospitals and more than 140 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group, mmpc® and West Michigan Heart-physician groups totaling more than 400 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with nearly 580,000 members. Spectrum Health’s 16,000 employees, 1,500 medical staff members and 2,000 volunteers are committed to delivering the highest quality care. The organization provided $79.4 million in community benefit during its 2009 fiscal year. As a system, Spectrum Health has earned more than 100 awards since it was formed in 1997.