UCLA Health - Santa Monica Medical Center receives 2020 Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award in patient experience

2020 Guardian Excellence Award

UCLA Health - Santa Monica Medical Center was named a 2020 Guardian of Excellence Award® winner for its patient experience in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit by Press Ganey. The Guardian of Excellence Award recognizes top-performing health care organizations that have achieved the 95th percentile or above for performance in patient experience.

The Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award is a nationally recognized symbol of achievement in health care. Presented annually, the award honors clients who consistently sustained performance in the top five percent of all Press Ganey clients for each reporting period during the course of one year.

"The NICU multidisciplinary program and team at UCLA Health - Santa Monica are quintessential examples of living our mission and values of healing humankind, one patient at a time, by improving health, alleviating suffering, and delivering acts of kindness to those they care for. I am very proud they are part of our organization," said Janet Rimicci, RN, MSN, senior director, UCLA Health - Santa Monica Medical Center.

To enhance patient experience and patient safety, the NICU at UCLA Health - Santa Monica Medical Center practices Family Integrated Care, a family-centered care model that supports parents as their child's most important care provider. This approach uses strategies such as parent-led daily bedside rounds to facilitate partnership, trust and collaboration between parents and NICU staff.

"The caregivers and staff of the NICU at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica touch the lives of patients and their families in profound ways," said Patrick T. Ryan, chairman and chief executive officer, Press Ganey. "This award reflects their deep commitment to listening to the voices of their patients and our shared mission to reduce suffering and improve the safety, quality, and experience of patient-centered care. I continue to be humbled and inspired by their heroic efforts to care for patients in the face of the uncertainty, stress, and fear brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Press Ganey is proud to partner with them in this noble work and we congratulate them on this tremendous achievement."

Press Ganey pioneered the health care performance improvement movement 35 years ago. Its mission has been to support health care providers in understanding and improving care delivery across the entire continuum. The company currently works with more than 41,000 health care facilities to reduce patient suffering and enhance caregiver resilience to improve the overall safety, quality and experience of care.