Map showing hospitals that received Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades

UPMC Chautauqua has received an “A” Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade for Spring 2022. This national distinction recognizes these hospital’s achievements in protecting patients from preventable harm and error in the hospital.

UPMC Chautauqua President Brian Durniok said this was a great achievement for the 17 UPMC hospitals that received the “A” designation, “The fact that it’s by an independent watchdog organization that measures over 30 different things around quality and safety is a great endorsement of the care we’re giving at the hospital. And it really recognizes the efforts by our staff and our physicians on a daily basis to make sure we give the best care possible to our patients so we’re incredibly proud of achieving this.”

Durniok said the hospital began work in 2019 to improve their safety grade, including ensuring consistent tactics for every patient, “And the way we know that is we measure virtually everything we do. So we know if we have infections, we know if we have a patient fall, knowing what that data is then let’s us employ different strategies to resolve those things and hard wire tactics that will prevent those things from occurring. And that’s what our team did.”

Durniok said adding staff such as a full-time pulmonologist in the ICU and a full-time pharmacy technician in the emergency department have also helped.

UPMC Chautauqua is only one of two hospitals in Western New York that achieved the “A” Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. The other hospital was located in Buffalo.

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke with UPMC Chautauqua President Brian Durniok about the hospital being required to restrict elective surgeries due to COVID-19 related capacity issues.

Brian Durniok

Brian Durniok

UPMC Chautauqua in Jamestown and Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk are among over 30 hospitals in New York State required to restrict elective surgeries and procedures starting this Friday.

The increase in COVID-19 cases is causing the strain on hospital facilities.

UPMC Chautauqua President Brian Durniok said under the executive order signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, if 90% of staffed beds are full then facilities are asked to limit elective procedures and surgeries for a two-week time period, “And then they reassess it each week to look at what our occupancy is. And then when that occupancy would drop below 90% then those non-essential elective surgeries would be restored. And so that’s what the process is that we’re operating under.”

Durniok said surgeries for cancer, heart issues, gall bladder removal, and the like will still continue, “An example of something that would be paused, for instance, might be an elective joint replacement. If a patient had decided, been thinking the last couple of years, about having their knee replaced and they’ve been able to manage. And they’ve been managing the last couple of years, that would be the type of thing that could be potentially deferred for two weeks.”

Durniok said the increase in COVID patients is a challenge because they tend to have a longer length of hospital stay than an average patient, “We’re also seeing some challenges where some of the local nursing homes also have some resource issues so our ability to, in some cases, discharge patients back to them as quickly as we want is also contributing to some of the occupancy capacity issues that we’re dealing with.”

Durniok encouraged people to get their COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters and to keep doing the things that worked in the early days of the Pandemic such as wearing a mask, social distancing, and washing your hands.

“Projects like this move our hospital forward and fulfill our mission to deliver world-class care right here in Jamestown,” said Brian Durniok, interim president, UPMC Chautauqua. “This $20 million project features an improved design, additional space, more privacy and modern amenities for patients and visitors.”

The new 42,000 square-foot expansion includes:

• Four labor and delivery suites and three triage rooms;
• 12 postpartum private rooms where patients will be able to heal;
• 10 inpatient adolescent mental health beds; and,
• 20 inpatient adult mental health beds.

The expansion project was made possible by a $26.4 million state grant, part of a $1.5 billion commitment made by the state in 2016 to assist health care providers fund capital improvements and further develop health systems.

Others who offered remarks at the ceremony included County Executive George Borrello; Betsy Wright, former UPMC Chautauqua president; Peter Stark, WCA Foundation board chair; and Steve Kilburn, UPMC Chautauqua board president.

Additionally, unveiled for the first time was a baby mural wall with more than 700 baby photos submitted by former patients. “Community is a very important part of what we do here. That is why we asked our friends, our patients, to help us share some thoughts and memories that we could feature in our new units,” said Durniok. In the mental health unit, an inspirational word art display includes about 100 submissions from the community.

“We’re grateful because expansion projects like this enable our medical staff to practice in a hospital with a very rich tradition of excellent local leadership and compassionate care that also is part of a nationally ranked academic medical center, strong hospital network and one of the largest provider-led integrated health care delivery and finance systems in the country,” said Durniok.