The Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award is an annual recognition of outstanding efforts among hospitals and health systems to advance equity of care to all patients and to spread lessons learned and progress toward diversity, inclusion and health equity. Lewis was the first African-American and first hospital trustee to chair the AHA Board.
“The AHA’s Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care award is given to these hospitals and health systems for engaging in exceptional and transformative efforts to reduce health disparities and other inequities within their communities,” said Rick Pollack, AHA’s President and CEO. “This year’s honorees have shown exemplary commitment to understanding and improving the lives of patients and employees of diverse populations through advisory councils, comprehensive data collection, community engagement and outreach and staff training, to give just a few examples of their important work.”
2023 Equity of Care Award, Small/Rural Hospital Excellence Winner — Recognizes a hospital or health system that has demonstrated excellence in advancing health equity in rural or small communities.Â
Monument Health Rapid City Hospital was selected as the Equity of Care, Small/Rural Hospital Excellence Award winner for demonstrating excellence in using quantitative and qualitative data to address disparities and improve patient health quality. Since signing the AHA Equity of Care Pledge in 2015, Monument Health Rapid City Hospital has consistently collected REaL data at a capture rate above 98 percent. It has also collated other pertinent information resulting in the ability to strategically focus on the needs of its patients. Furthermore, Monument Health Rapid City Hospital formed a Health Equity Team that analyzes data, thereby empowering a way to develop and specifically tailor a care plan that includes additional monitoring and an increased frequency of discharge phone calls to reduce readmission rates.
Recognizing its unique patient population, Monument Health Rapid City Hospital engages and collaborates with its community populations. Caregivers complete cultural awareness training as part of their orientation and the workforce is highly engaged in ongoing educational sessions. Since 2016, cultural awareness seminars have been held to understand and address health disparities that affect Native Americans. A Health Equity Seminar was added in 2022, where expert physicians presented data and clinical findings on specific medical conditions such as peripheral artery disease, congenital syphilis, cancer detection and research impacting the Native American communities.
To read the full press release from AHA, click here.
