[Fort Lauderdale, FL] – July 8, 2005 – Tenet South Florida announced today that it has joined the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) “100,000 Lives Campaign,” as part of the organization’s overall Commitment to Quality initiative.  The goal of this unprecedented campaign is to save 100,000 patients’ lives through the implementation of health care processes proven to prevent avoidable deaths and save lives. 

            Tenet South Florida’s 15 hospitals are among the 2,200 hospitals nationwide that have joined the campaign and are committed to reaching the program goal to save 100,000 lives by June 2006 and every year thereafter. Tenet South Florida hospitals are Cleveland Clinic Hospital, Coral Gables Hospital, Delray Medical Center, Florida Medical Center, Good Samaritan Medical Center, Hialeah Hospital, Hollywood Medical Center, North Ridge Medical Center, North Shore Medical Center, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, Palmetto General Hospital, Parkway Regional Medical Center, Pinecrest Rehabilitation Hospital, St. Mary’s Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center.

            “This campaign goes hand-in-hand with our commitment to providing safe, quality care to every patient that comes through our doors,” said Tenet South Florida Senior Vice President Don Steigman.  “We are proud to join with other leading health care organizations to improve health care and, more importantly, save lives.”

Tenet South Florida’s participating hospitals pledge to implement some or all of the following six quality improvement measures through the 100,000 Lives Campaign:

1.      Deploying rapid response teams – Allow any staff member, regardless of position in the chain of command, to call upon a specialty team to examine a patient at the first sign of decline.

2.      Delivering reliable evidence-based care for acute myocardial infarction – Consistently deliver key measures, including early administration of aspirin and beta-blockers, ACE/ARB, lipid lowering and smoking cessation counseling that prevent patient deaths from heart attack. 

3.      Preventing adverse drug events – Implement medication reconciliation, which requires compiling a list of all of the patient’s medications and reconciling them to ensure that the patient is given or prescribed the right medications at the correct dosages.  This is to occur at admission, discharge and before transferring a patient to another care unit.

4.      Preventing central line infections – Consistently deliver five interdependent, scientifically grounded steps collectively called the “Central Line Bundle.”  The central line bundle is a group of evidence-based interventions for patients with intravascular central catheters that, when implemented together, result in better outcomes than when implemented individually.

5.      Preventing surgical site infections – Reliable delivery of the correct perioperative antibiotics, maintaining proper glucose levels and avoid shaving hair at the surgical site.

6.      Preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia – Implement five interdependent, scientifically grounded steps collectively called the “Ventilator Bundle.”  This includes elevating the head of the hospital bed by 30 degrees, which dramatically reduces mortality and length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit.

The 100,000 Lives Campaign was formally launched on December 14, 2004, and has been endorsed by the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. 

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement is a not-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world.  Founded in 1991 and based in Cambridge, Mass., IHI is a catalyst for change, cultivating innovative concepts for improving patient care and implementing programs for putting those ideas into action.  Thousands of health care providers, including many of the finest hospitals in the world, participate in IHI’s groundbreaking work.  To learn more about the 100,000 Lives Campaign, go to www.ihi.org/ihi/programs/campaign.

            Tenet South Florida, a part of Tenet Healthcare Corporation's (NYSE:THC) Florida-Alabama region, comprises 14 acute care hospitals, serving three South Florida counties with approximately 4,650 beds and numerous related health care services. The region includes Delray Medical Center, the No. 1-rated hospital for cardiac services in Florida for 2005, as ranked by HealthGrades, a national health care quality company, as well as three hospitals that have earned the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence and 5-star rankings - Delray Medical Center, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center and Florida Medical Center. Hiahleah Hospital is another Tenet South Florida hospital that has earned a 5-star ranking. 

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