Valued Voice

On Feb. 27, WHA hosted the second annual Quality and Patient Safety Awards celebration dinner in Madison, honoring the outstanding achievements of Wisconsin's hospitals in health care excellence. 

The WHA Excellence in Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Award honors hospitals committed to advancing health care through continuous improvement, innovation and exceptional quality performance, with a focus on enhancing patient outcomes and safety. Award recipients were selected by a council of health care quality experts, both internal and external, who evaluated their innovative and impactful quality stories, as well as their top performance scores in their respective categories. 

2025 Hospitals Awarded this year:

• HealthPartners Collaboration - Amery Hospital & Clinic, Hudson Hospital & Clinic and Westfields Hospital & Clinic for Swing Bed Optimization (Critical Access Hospital 1-25 Bed Category)
• Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital for Improving Mortality Index (General Medical Surgical Hospital 26-99 Bed Category)
• Aurora Medical Center - Summit for Age-Friendly 4Ms Implementation – Improving Care and Patient Experience for Older Adults (General Medical Surgical Hospital 100+ Bed Category)
• UW Health Rehabilitation Hospital for Neurological Physical Therapy Program (Specialty Hospital Category)

Honorable Mentions:

Critical Access Hospital 1-25 Bed Category:

• River Falls Area Hospital for Safety First: Enhancing Patient and Staff Safety Through Tiered Huddles
• Burnett Medical Center for Always Ready Rounding: Enhancing Patient Safety and Survey Preparedness

General Medical Surgical Hospital 26-99 Bed Category:

• Froedtert Holy Family Memorial for Capitalizing on Evidence-Based Practice to Reduce the Three C's (CLABSI, CAUTI, CDIFF)
• Aurora Medical Center - Washington County for Enhancing Older Adult Care: Reducing Readmissions and Improving Patient Satisfaction

General Medical Surgical Hospital 100+ Bed Category:

• Aurora Medical Center - Grafton for Enhancing 4Ms Care for Older Adults on Med Surg 3 at Aurora Grafton
• Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital - St Joseph Campus for Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Management: Reducing Readmissions by 20%
• Bellin Hospital for Initiating Compassionate Transition Huddles to Decrease Readmissions

Congratulations to all award winners, honorable mentions and nominees for their remarkable contributions to health care improvement!

Save the Date:

Want to learn more about the impactful quality initiatives in Wisconsin hospitals? Join us at the WHA Health Care Quality Showcase on the afternoon of April 9 at the Capitol Rotunda following WHA’s Advocacy Day at the Monona Terrace. For more information, visit WHA Advocacy Day.