TOWNSHEND — Grace Cottage Hospital has joined a nationwide initiative to improve health care specifically for older adults.
The Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative is helping hospitals and other care settings implement a set of evidence-based interventions specifically designed to improve care for older adults.
In its letter congratulating Grace Cottage Hospital for its Age-Friendly Level 2 recognition, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) calls Grace Cottage Hospital “a leader in this rapidly growing movement committed to care of older adults.”
Grace Cottage is the only Vermont hospital that has achieved this recognition. Both Grace Cottage Family Health and Grace Cottage Hospital join 909 facilities nationally who have achieved the more advanced Level 2 recognition, Committed to Care Excellence.
“This model truly ensures that our multidisciplinary team is setting goals for our patients by looking through the lens of what matters to the individual,” Grace Cottage Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Eaton said in a news release.
The IHI designation is based on a review of Grace Cottage's patient care in four main areas, what the IHI calls the 4Ms: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility.
Grace Cottage Hospital has proven it provides patient-centered care, guided by what is most important to the individual patient (What Matters).
It also aims to prevent, identify, treat, and manage dementia, depression, and delirium (Mentation), and to encourage older adults to move safely every day (Mobility). When medication (the 4th M) is necessary, Grace Cottage Hospital providers choose medicines and dosages with the least impact on the other 3Ms.
The “Age-Friendly” designation is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and IHI, in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the U.S. The aim is to provide guidance and recognition for healthcare institutions seeking to provide the best age-friendly care for older adults.
Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital includes a 19-bed hospital and ER, a primary care clinic, full-service lab and radiology, and both inpatient and outpatient physical and occupational therapy.
Grace Cottage's Messenger Valley Pharmacy is open to the public and located across the street from the hospital. For more information, visit gracecottage.org or call 802-365-7357.