By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Guam Memorial Hospital received an honorable mention from the 4th annual Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare (PSQH) Innovation Awards.
The hospital was recognized for developing its telemedicine program during the Covid-19 pandemic to address staffing shortages caused by the increasing number of patients requiring admission, particularly in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
Telemedicine made it possible to connect patients with off-island doctors to provide medical consultation, coverage, and support thereby relieving the load on local physicians and reducing burnout.
“The success of GMHA’s telemedicine program is a testament to the innovative thinking required during the pandemic so the hospital can continue providing excellent care to patients,” said GMH CEO Lillian Perez-Posadas. “It also helped prevent exhaustion among our physicians who were stretched to the limit as the hospital came close to reaching its capacity many times.”
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According to the PSQH, the awards are to recognize healthcare organizations that overcame challenges to patient safety or quality improvement. Adopting new technologies, like GMH’s telemedicine program, allowed hospitals to maintain their high standards of care during the Covid pandemic.
“We are very proud of the recognition GMH has received for its innovative approach to caring for our most critically ill patients during the height of the Covid pandemic. GMH faced enormous challenges as the island’s COVID-designated hospital,” said Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, “The introduction of telemedicine strengthened GMH’s ability to continue providing an excellent level of care for our people and Covidpositive patients.”
“This accolade by the PSQH is well-deserved,” said Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio. “GMH was a beacon of hope during the pandemic, taking every avenue to ensure our community received the very best care. Adopting telemedicine introduced a reliable, proven method of care for our patients and helped reduce the fatigue overwhelming our healthcare providers.”
“The teams of care and compassion at our hospitals are some of the most resilient in the nation, and we applaud them as recipients of this quality achievement award, which they earned by working to save lives and prevent
disability,” Tenorio said. (GMH)
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