Performance
Waiting times at Palisades Medical Center were reduced to nine minutes, with a maximum of 11 minutes, according to a September 20, 2009 report in the Union City Reporter. The reduction was attributed to the a mid-2009 update to PMC's emergency room, specifically, the construction of a Rapid Evaluation Unit (REU), in which patients are asked questions and treated by two nurses: a technician and a physician. The REU features digital radiology, a Picis computer system that permits rapid delivery of a patient's history, a Vital Works computer system that provides staff with up-to-the-minute updates, new cardiac, stroke and ventilator equipment, a renovation of patient waiting rooms and staff facilities, and a pneumatic tube that can vacuum specimens directly to the hospital's lab. The REU was implemented by clinical coordinator of the emergency room Gladys M. Sillero and consultant Dr. Todd Warden, with the support of President and CEO Bruce J. Markowitz and E.R. Medical Director Dr. Alvin Goldberg and vice president of nursing Rueben Fernandez and her staff.
Palisades Medical Center received among the highest scores in Hudson County in the New Jersey Department of Health's 2009 Hospital Performance Report. The Center scored in the top 10 percent of hospitals in the state for their care of heart attacks, surgical improvements, and heart failure, receiving 100, 98 and 100 in those areas, respectively, percentages which represent the number of patients treated properly and released. PMC received 98 percent for pneumonia, greater than 50 percent of hospitals in the study. Its performance in pneumonia was due to a 98 percent correct preventative antibiotic timing, and 93 percent blood culture rate. Beginning and ending antibiotic treatment at the right time crucial to prevent infection. PMC's rating in patient safety was also positive, with only .03 patient receiving accidental punctures or lacerations, compared to a national average of 3.6. PMC did not, however, do as well in post-operative sepsis, another patient safety indicator area, scoring a high post-operative sepsis rate of 42 per 100, compared with a 2004 national average of 11.4 cases per 1,000 patients treated, and a 2007 statewide rate of 13.9 cases per 1,000 patients.
In October 2010, Lori-Ann Ligon, the director of Respiratory Care at PMC, was given the 2010 Instrumentation Laboratory (IL) Achievement Award by the New Jersey Society for Respiratory Care (NJSRC) at the NJSRC's annual conference at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. The IL Award recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to both the state society in general, and the Respiratory Care profession in general.
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