West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital has received the Platinum Level 2009 Louisiana Hospital Quality Award, presented by eQHealth Solutions, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Louisiana. The award was announced at the annual Louisiana Health Care Quality Summit hosted by eQHealth Solutions in Baton Rouge. With this award, West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital has been recognized for improving the quality of health care given to their patients. The hospital is the only hospital in the Lake Charles/Sulphur area, and one of only 26 hospitals in the state, to receive the Platinum Louisiana Hospital Quality Award for 2009.

The Hospital Quality Award honors Louisiana hospitals that successfully implement quality initiatives directed toward improving patient care in the hospital setting. The award recognizes those facilities that are actively engaged in improving care in one or more of the following areas:

• Acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
• Heart Failure
• Pneumonia
• Surgical Care

The clinical topics measured for the awards have been designated as national health care priorities by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Staff members from West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital have been working with quality improvement specialists from eQHealth Solutions to use proven, evidence-based practices to improve care for their patients. "The medical staff and the entire health care team of West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital are dedicated to providing the very best in patient care and our efforts have been enhanced through our quality improvement partnerships with eQHealth Solutions. We are extremely proud to be a recipient of this distinguished award,” said Bill Hankins, CEO of West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital.

"When we began these awards five years ago, we had several goals. The first was to recognize providers who had achieved measured improvements in patient care as determined by national standards,” said Gary Curtis, CEO of eQHealth Solutions. "Then, by publicizing these results, our second goal was to create an environment that encouraged others to strive for this same recognition.” Curtis said that based on the increasing number of providers who are making these improvements, the ultimate goal of improved care is occurring. "One provider at a time, one patient encounter at a time, the quality of health care continues to improve throughout Louisiana,” he added.

For more information about Louisiana Hospital Quality Awards, please visit http://louisianaqio.eqhs.org/ or http://www.wcch.com/.