The Quality Operations Committee leadership changed hands Jan. 1, with Ken Graven, MD, stepping down and Christine Clarke, MD, assuming the chair of this committee. Charged with managing Salem Health strategic improvement projects, the QOC has made significant contributions helping Salem Health become one of the top hospitals in Oregon.
The QOC, composed predominantly of physicians, started three years ago as an experiment to see if moving ownership of organizational strategic improvement to the medical staff would speed the pace of change. Set up as a Board of Trustees committee, the QOC’s oversight function has been very successful, with projects such as heart failure affinity, hand hygiene, CLABSI prevention, and diabetes affinity group all realizing significant gains in decreasing morbidity, mortality, and costs.
As the incoming president-elect of the medical staff, Dr. Chris Clarke is looking forward to championing upcoming projects, such as opioid/pain management, patient experience/relationship-based care, and transitional care as a tool for decreasing readmissions.
New opportunities to participate as members of the committee are now available. Physicians interested in participating should speak to their department chair (Claire O’Brien, MD, primary care; Clark McDonald, MD, hospital-oriented medical specialties; Robert Harder, MD, surgical services) for additional details and the opportunity to serve in this capacity.