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Meritus earns its fifth ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade
Leapfrog grade for fall 2024 gives Meritus Medical Center a ‘Straight A’ designation HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Meritus Medical Center earned its fifth straight “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit watchdog focused on patient safety. Leapfrog assigns an “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” or “F” grade to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 measures of errors, accidents, injuries and infections as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them. Grades are given twice annually. The measures were taken from records during fall 2024. Only about 27 percent of hospitals in Maryland earned an “A” grade this cycle. Meritus is a "Straight A" hospital, having earned an "A" in at least five consecutive cycles of the Hospital Safety Grade, according to Leapfrog. Meritus earned its first “A” grade in the spring of 2023. It is in the top 12 percent of hospitals nationwide to achieve this consistent excellence. “We are thrilled to have earned our fifth straight ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade from Leapfrog,” said Chief Operating Officer Carrie Adams, Pharm.D. “We take this as a reflection of our team members’ quality care in safeguarding our patients, and we pledge to continue that care to continue enhancing the health of our community.” The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade stands as the only hospital ratings program focused solely on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day in the United States. This program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring. “Achieving an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade reflects enormous dedication to patient safety,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “I extend my congratulations to Meritus Medical Center, its leadership, clinicians, staff and volunteers for creating a culture where patients come first.” To explore Meritus’ full grade details and to find valuable tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org. ### Meritus Health, Western Maryland’s largest health care provider, is located at the crossroads of Western Maryland, Southern Pennsylvania and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The mission of Meritus Health is to improve the health of the region by providing the best healthcare, health services and medical education. As an anchor organization for the community, Meritus has 4,000 employees and serves more than 200,000 residents of the tristate region through Meritus Medical Center, Brook Lane Health Services, Meritus Medical Group, Meritus Home Health, Meritus Equipped for Life, and the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine. More information can be found at www.MeritusHealth.com or visit our Facebook page or LinkedIn page.
NEWS & UPDATES
New Meritus physician assistants are locally trained
Health system hires 4 from University System of Maryland - Hagerstown. HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Meritus Health is community-obsessed. That commitment is evident in the health system’s decision to hire at least four recent graduates from the physician assistant (PA) program, joining several students from the program already at Meritus. Frostburg State University has offered Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Studies through the University System of Maryland – Hagerstown (USMH) since 2019. The two-year program has 25 graduates each year. Jacob Ashby, Ed.D., the executive director of USMH, said the program was created with Meritus in mind. He said the school collaborated with the health system to make sure physician assistants were trained to meet the region’s growing need for healthcare access. It recently created a track just for students who intend to work at Meritus after graduation. As part of the partnership, Meritus provides both a medical director and the real-world clinical training for selected students. Aaron George, M.D., is currently the medical director and Bernardo Diaz Jr., M.D., was recently recognized as the preceptor of the year for his skill as a mentor and educator for the students. “There is a need for physicians and physician assistants in our region,” Ashby said. “We’re helping to serve that need. USMH and Meritus work really well together.” Kerry Birney, MSHS, PA-C, interim department chair and program director of the Department of Physician Assistant Medicine, said the program has admission preferences for students who come from Washington County and the other four counties that make up Western Maryland, as well as adjacent counties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. “The mission of the program is to ensure we have good access to healthcare in the Western Maryland region,” she said. “People from the area are more likely to stay in the area.” The training also has a focus on serving rural and underserved populations, she said. Students in the program complete clinical rotations — hands-on training experiences — at Meritus and receive support for job placement with the health system after graduation. “It is important to our community that we have healthcare providers who know and understand our region,” said Maulik Joshi, Dr.P.H. “That’s why our partnerships with Frostburg State University and USMH is a win-win. We know we are getting people who not only are experts in their field of medicine, but they also choose to live and work here.” The four new physician assistants joining Meritus are: Kelly Combs Gabriela Scott Poojah Shah Jessica Shank They are due to start with the health system in the fall. To learn more about the Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Studies program at Frostburg State through USMH, visit www.frostburg.edu/programs/graduate-physician-assistant/welcome.php. To learn about job openings at Meritus Health, visit www.meritushealth.com/careers. ### Meritus Health, Western Maryland’s largest health care provider, is located at the crossroads of Western Maryland, Southern Pennsylvania and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The mission of Meritus Health is to improve the health of the region by providing the best healthcare, health services and medical education. As an anchor organization for the community, Meritus has 4,000 employees and serves more than 200,000 residents of the tristate region through Meritus Medical Center, Brook Lane Health Services, Meritus Medical Group, Meritus Home Health, Meritus Equipped for Life, and the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine. More information can be found at www.MeritusHealth.com or visit our Facebook page or LinkedIn page.
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Meritus Food Farmacy to help patient health through diet and education
New initiative meant to help combat food insecurity and teach patients what to eat. HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Meritus Health has introduced a new service to provide a fresh approach to better health: The Meritus Food Farmacy. Eating healthy, fresh foods can dramatically improve a person’s overall health. That’s why primary care and specialist providers will begin prescribing healthy food based on medical diagnosis. After the provider sends in a prescription, a Meritus Food Farmacy team member sets up an appointment for the patient to come to the kiosk in the Robinwood Professional Center atrium to pick up a pre-sorted bag of perishable and nonperishable food and recipes. The bag of food, worth about $50 per week for 8 weeks or more, is free to patients with a prescription. They will also have access to weekly cooking demonstrations and one-to-one visits with a Registered Dietitian. “At Meritus, we understand that food is more than just fuel, it’s medicine,” said Beth Fields Dowdell, DNP, CRNP, director of Community Health and Outpatient Care Management at Meritus Health. “The Food Farmacy is designed to support patients managing chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and more by prescribing nutritious, condition-specific foods as part of their treatment plan.” Food insecurity is a major social determinant of health in Washington County. There are roughly 3,000 patients at Meritus who report concerns about food insecurity. About 1,200 patients have been documented with malnutrition. Transportation and finances are factors in patients not having access to healthy food. The goal of Meritus Food Farmacy includes improving access to healthy foods based on medical diagnosis, increased understanding of nutrition and the impact on the patient’s medical diagnosis, and improving health outcomes. Patients will be evaluated in follow-up visits with their primary care provider, or if they should be admitted to the hospital for other health-related reasons. “But the hope is that providing access to healthy food will help reduce the number of admissions and readmissions,” Dowdell said. The Farmacy kiosk will be open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. To learn more about the Meritus Food Farmacy, visit www.meritushealth.com/farmacy. ### Meritus Health, Western Maryland’s largest health care provider, is located at the crossroads of Western Maryland, Southern Pennsylvania and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The mission of Meritus Health is to improve the health of the region by providing the best healthcare, health services and medical education. As an anchor organization for the community, Meritus has 4,000 employees and serves more than 200,000 residents of the tristate region through Meritus Medical Center, Brook Lane Health Services, Meritus Medical Group, Meritus Home Health, Meritus Equipped for Life, and the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine. More information can be found at www.MeritusHealth.com or visit our Facebook page or LinkedIn page.
MeritusNow allows you to see a healthcare provider from your couch
Have you or your child found yourselves with a sniffle, sore throat or any other everyday ailment, but the thought of even leaving the couch to make it to the doctor or urgent care seems out of the question? Meritus Health has a virtual solution to help you: MeritusNow. “We want to try to improve the health of the community with accessible quality care,” said Jennifer Mueller, LPN, CPPM, who is in charge of MeritusNow operations. “It’s just like urgent care, except virtual.” The idea grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic and launched in June 2022. The service is for patients 5 years old and older. The cadre of providers on the other end of the computer monitor sees many patients from Washington County and other parts of Maryland, as well as those from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The service is available seven days a week, with appointments available from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the week and in the evening on weekends. There’s one provider available during the day and three who see patients in the evenings. The system uses any computer or smartphone with a camera. Mueller or another person will help walk through the login process anyone who needs assistance. Patients simply visit www.meritushealth.com and scroll down the screen until they see “Virtual Visit” and click the “Schedule Now” button. It can also be accessed through MyChart, but a patient doesn’t need to have a MyChart login to use MeritusNow. From there, the patient will be asked a series of questions, including whom the appointment is for and the reason for the appointment. Mueller or another healthcare provider will review those reasons to help determine what the patient might need. Typical patients are suffering from colds, COVID, flu, urinary tract infections, and other non-chronic maladies. The service is not for treatment of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, nor is it for those suffering a potentially life-threatening emergency. “I have to do triage,” Mueller said. “If I see that you’re not appropriate for telemedicine, I will send you to your primary care provider, urgent care or emergency room for an in-person evaluation.” The provider will speak with the patient directly and assess symptoms. They can write prescriptions or order diagnostic testing. “There are a lot of things a provider can do without having ‘hands-on,’” Mueller said. “If we know the person’s symptoms — a fever, nausea, sore throat — it can lead to a strep throat diagnosis. We can ask if the person has had someone look at their throat. We can even ask them to open their mouth and look at the camera. “If we think it’s strep, we can send them out for testing.” The service has helped nearly 10,000 patients since it started, though appointments were heaviest this past winter during cold and flu season, Mueller said. “It was an alternative to urgent care and the emergency room,” she said. Giving patients access is one of the reasons Mueller and others helped develop the service three years ago. “It was the ability to reach patients that might not be able to get in to primary care, or patients in remote areas,” she said. “I wanted to improve that equity, to give everyone access to care.” To learn more about Meritus virtual care, visit https://now.meritushealth.com.
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