West Valley Medical Center is proud to announce that the hospital's Med/Surg and OR teams have earned the HCA Healthcare Unit of Distinction (UOD) Awards – an annual program that recognizes and rewards exemplary nursing units at HCA Healthcare sites of care. The “Unit of Distinction” designation is achieved through measurable, exemplary performance in the strategic areas of advocacy and leadership, consistency in nursing practice and operations.
In 2019, approximately 2,200 HCA Healthcare nursing units participated in the program and were scored on approximately 20 different criteria to determine which would receive the 2019 Unit of Distinction honor. West Valley's Med/Surg team scored in the top five percent of all HCA Healthcare medical surgical, critical care, emergency services, surgical services, behavioral health and women's and children's nursing units. West Valley's OR team scored in the top ten percent, earning them an “Honorable Mention” designation.
“Our nursing teams are committed to excellence every day. This award highlights their hard work and dedication to not only their patients, but also their colleagues and the hospital,” said Betsy Hunsicker, chief executive officer of West Valley Medical Center.
“The Unit of Distinction Awards recognize and celebrate excellence in nursing and acknowledge that it takes a high-performing team of nurses demonstrating a high level of commitment to achieve results like these,” said Jane Englebright, chief nurse executive and senior vice president of HCA Healthcare. “These awards help to unite our nursing community, all of us, toward a common goal of creating a patient-centered culture and keeping our commitment to the care and improvement of human life.”
Launched in 2015, the Unit of Distinction Awards are an essential component of the nursing strategic plan. With approximately 2,000 sites of care, HCA Healthcare's 98,000 nurses have abundant opportunity to choose work across a wide spectrum of clinical and non-clinical settings. The company supports and invests in nursing with leading-edge technologies and increased access to clinical education and professional development opportunities to help make HCA Healthcare the premier career destination for nurses.