Quality Advisor

Health Workforce Well-Being Day Recognized On March 18

March 18, the anniversary of the passage of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, is now officially recognized as Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness, acknowledging the widespread health worker burnout in the U.S. and the need for solutions.

In recognition of Health Workforce Wellbeing Day, ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare, a national coalition led by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, unveils a new initiative to empower health workers to access the mental health care and support they may need, while equipping employers, policymakers and other decision-makers with resources to eliminate systemic barriers to mental health care.

Building on the success of the coalition’s Wellbeing First Champion Challenge program, Health Workers Have The Right, Too brings together the health care community to change stigmatizing policies and practices that discourage health workers from seeking mental health care.

Wisconsin Quality Residency Program 2024-2025 Graduates

On March 12, 2025, 14 Wisconsin hospital quality improvement leaders were awarded and celebrated for completing the 2024-2025 Wisconsin Quality Residency Program. Transitioning into a new role as a healthcare quality leader involves mastering numerous core concepts and leadership essentials. This 10-month program, specifically designed for new quality leaders with limited experience in quality improvement and patient safety in a hospital setting, offers a comprehensive curriculum taught by field experts.

The program's modules covered vital topics such as regulatory and accreditation requirements, basic risk management skills, quality data reporting methods, and effective quality improvement techniques. Established through a collaboration between WHA and the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC) and sponsored in part by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health (WORH), the program aims to equip new leaders with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their roles. 

Congratulations to the 2024-2025 Quality Residency program graduates:

• Tracy Katzer, Ascension Wisconsin
• Leah Johnson, Black River Memorial Hospital
• Janelle Hermann, Burnett Medical Center
• Jenna Hebel, Crossing Rivers Health
• Stephanie Koenig, Crossing Rivers Health
• Megan Fox, Door County Medical Center
• Nikki Long, Gundersen Tri-County Hospital
• Miranda Behnke, HSHS St. Clare Hospital
• Logan Reding, MercyHealth Hospital and Trauma Center - Janesville
• Stephanie Walton, MercyHealth Hospital and Trauma Center - Janesville
• Carmen Liebelt, Mile Bluff Medical Center
• Patty Willeman, St. Croix Health
• Elizabeth Bos, ThedaCare Neenah
• Lindsey Redmann, ThedaCare Shawano

The 2025-26 Wisconsin Quality Residency program kicks off September 10. Watch this space for registration.

Share Your Hospital's Quality Improvement Stories

The WHA quality team is gathering stories for our annual 2025 Wisconsin Health Care Quality Report, promoting the quality story within Wisconsin hospitals. If your hospital has a quality improvement project highlighting the important improvement work that occurred throughout 2024, we would like to hear from you. Stories included in last year’s report can be viewed here.

Email your story and attach any photographs or images of your work to Marcia Egle by April 18.

Photos, graphs or images should be sent as separate attachments for inclusion in the report. Photos should be sent as .jpg or .png files; graphs should be sent as .jpg, .png, PowerPoint slide, Excel file, or PDF.

Rural Health Care Cybersecurity Webinar Recap

WHA, in partnership with the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, hosted Laura Kreofsky, Director, Rural Health Resiliency with Microsoft Philanthropies who presented Cybersecurity Risks in Rural Healthcare webinar on March 13. Kreofsky shared Microsoft, the American Hospital Association and the National Rural Health Association, with the support from the White House, formed a partnership in 2024 committed to improving security of rural hospitals in the United States. The webinar highlighted available resources, including a free webinar series to assist rural health IT leaders and a free cybersecurity assessment for rural hospitals. For more information, please contact Jenny Pritchett.

Cybersecurity Webinar Video Recording and slide presentation.

Advocacy Day is April 9

Advocacy Day is three weeks away and is a fantastic opportunity for WHA members to engage with policymakers, share their stories and advocate for important health care issues. There is no cost to attend Advocacy Day, but pre-registration is required.

Attendees will hear from a variety of influential speakers, including a fireside chat with Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur and WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding. During this session, LaFleur and Borgerding will discuss the importance of leadership in ever-changing environments. They will also share insights on guiding diverse teams in dynamic organizations.

If you have any questions, please email Nadine Allen. We hope to see you all there!

WHA Health Care Quality Showcase is April 9

The Health Care Quality Showcase is an excellent opportunity to highlight and promote the innovative quality improvement efforts of Wisconsin hospitals.

Join us on April 9, 2025, from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda and learn about the impactful work being done at hospitals across Wisconsin to enhance patient safety and improve care. This event provides a platform to engage with elected officials, Advocacy Day attendees and the public, helping to raise awareness of the significant strides hospitals are making in delivering high-quality, safe care.

If you have questions, please contact Nadine Allen or Marcia Egle.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) Age-Friendly Health Systems Spring 2025 Action Community Opportunity

There is still time to join IHI's Age-Friendly Health Systems Spring 2025 Action Community, which kicked off on March 17, 2025.

If your team is looking to implement age-friendly care in your health system or practice, this opportunity is perfect for you. The 7-month journey to Recognition provides a structure for learning with and from other health systems and expert faculty. There is no fee to participate in the Age-Friendly Health Systems Action Community. A health system, hospital, or practice in the US can enroll as many sites/teams as it would like to participate in testing the 4Ms.

For more information click here.

You can join the Action Community any time prior to the April 23 webinar. Register your team for the Spring 2025 Action Community here. Registration is behind the IHI portal and requires login.

AHA: New Report Shows Improvements in Patient Safety and Workforce Resilience

The AHA and Press Ganey released a new report showing hospital and health system patients reporting improvements in overall care experience and perception of safety alongside gains in key safety outcomes. It also shows that the health care workforce has had a rebound in their reported experience, resilience and perceptions of safety culture.

The insights report, “Improvement in Safety Culture Linked to Better Patient and Staff Outcomes,” highlights how hospitals that foster a strong culture of safety also report a better experience for patients and the health care workforce.

Key report findings include:

• 13 million patients surveyed after hospital stays report improvements in their overall care experience and perception of safety.
• Surveys of 1.7 million members of the health care workforce show a rebound in their reported experience, resilience and perceptions of safety culture, following the enormous strain of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Improvements in key safety outcomes like falls and infections across more than 25,000 units in 2,430 hospitals.

“Every day in hospitals across America, dedicated care teams strive to deliver safe, high-quality care to every patient. This commitment involves continually identifying what drives better outcomes and then implementing changes to improve patient care,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “At the heart of health care are people caring for other people, which is why hospitals support and invest in the success and well-being of their workforce. The latest Press Ganey data highlight that care is getting safer as the experience of both patients and the health care workforce improves.”

The report, released during Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 9-15), demonstrates continued positive trends for hospitals and health systems that were outlined in a September 2024 report AHA released in conjunction with Vizient. That report showed a decrease in adverse patient safety events along with increasing health care screenings — even as hospitals are caring for more higher acuity patients.

The reports are part of the AHA’s Patient Safety Initiative that was launched in 2023 to reaffirm hospital and health system leadership and commitment to patient safety. The initiative provides hospitals with tools and data to advance patient safety, offers a platform for sharing their stories of improvement with peers, and highlights examples of innovation that support, spread and sustain safety improvement.