UR Medicine Strong West Emergency Named 'Guardians of Excellence'

UR Medicine's Strong West Emergency Department has earned Press Ganey's Guardian of Excellence Award, ranking in the top 5 percent for Patient Experience in care delivery compared with similar programs across the country. This nationally recognized symbol of achievement in health care is awarded annually to Press Ganey clients who have sustained patient satisfaction scores in the 95th percentile or higher for a full year.

When Strong West opened its doors three years ago in the former Lakeside Memorial Hospital, UR Medicine's No. 1 priority was to reinstate emergency services that had been lost when Lakeside was shuttered. Yet the charge did not stop there: The dedicated staff members at the Strong West Emergency Department, from the beginning, have made customer service a key part of their daily goals.

"Strong West Emergency Medicine has played a unique role in providing life-saving care to patients in Brockport and its surrounding rural communities," said Michael F. Kamali, M.D., chair of the URMC Department of Emergency Medicine. "With so many of our employees Brockport-area residents and some former Lakeside staff members, the culture from the outset has been one of small-town personal care. It has created a distinctive environment in which we consider our patients our neighbors, an asset in an Emergency Medicine setting. That regard for our patients is translated into these quality ratings."

"This is truly an incredible achievement earned only by the best of the best," said Jacqueline Beckerman, chief patient experience officer for URMC. "It's no small feat to attain such high scores and then to maintain them for an entire year. We are proud to celebrate Strong West Emergency for being top of the class in their commitment to excellence for the patients they serve."

Press Ganey, a recognized leader in patient experience measurement and performance improvement solutions, provides all surveys to measure patient experience and clinical quality for UR Medicine along with more than 26,000 health care facilities across the country.

"We are proud to partner with UR Medicine," said Press Ganey CEO Patrick T. Ryan. "By achieving and sustaining this level of excellence, Strong West Emergency Department continues to demonstrate their commitment to advancing the overall quality of health care."