Straub, Wilcox Medical Centers Recognized Nationally For Surgical Excellence

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program recognized Straub Medical Center and Wilcox Medical Center for achieving meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2020.

These two Hawai‘i Pacific Health medical centers are among only 90 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals nationally to earn the distinction. As a participant in ACS NSQIP, Straub Medical Center and Wilcox Medical Center are required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and collect data that assesses patient safety and can be used to direct improvement in the quality of surgical care.

The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving a meritorious composite score in either an “All Cases” category or a category which includes only “High Risk” cases. Risk-adjusted data from the July 2021 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2020 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes. Straub Medical Center and Wilcox Medical Center have been recognized on both the “All Cases” and “High Risk” Meritorious lists.

Wilcox Medical Center has already established itself as the first American College of Surgeons-verified Level III Trauma Center in the state of Hawai‘i. This most recent award of merit further recognizes the medical center and its consistency for surgical excellence. Wilcox has now earned this ACS NSQIP recognition three years in a row (2018, 2019 and 2020).

“This honorable distinction by the American College of Surgeons clearly demonstrates the excellent work of our Wilcox Medical Center staff to ensure the health and safety of the patients we serve,” said Jen Chahanovich, president and CEO of Wilcox Medical Center and Kaua‘i Medical Clinic. “Every Wilcox employee is committed to our community and delivering the very best care. We are also proud of how these outcome measures reflect the purpose and precision displayed by our surgical team.”

Straub Medical Center consistently brings new technologies and innovative medical practices to Hawai‘i, such as minimally invasive cardiac surgery and total joint replacement. Straub takes great pride in achieving ACS NSQIP meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2016, 2018 and 2020.

“Providing quality care is of the utmost importance to our entire staff,” said Travis Clegg, chief operating officer of Straub Medical Center. “Surgical outcomes require many different departments and staff members collaborating together to ensure the success of a procedure. We commend our Straub team for reaching these impressive standards to provide an exceptional patient experience.”

Each composite score was determined through a different weighted formula combining eight outcomes. The outcome performances related to patient management were in the following eight clinical areas: mortality, unplanned intubation, ventilator > 48 hours, renal failure, cardiac incidents (cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction); respiratory (pneumonia); SSI (surgical site infections-superficial and deep incisional and organ-space SSIs); or urinary tract infection.

The 90 commended hospitals achieved the distinction based on their outstanding composite quality score across the eight areas listed above.

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. It has more than 82,000 members and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.