Case Study

Tampa General Hospital

“As the primary teaching hospital for the University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa General serves a 14-county region and provides many medical services found nowhere else in the Tampa Bay area. We are the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, the regional burn center, one of the busiest solid organ transplant centers in the United States, and one of the area’s largest inpatient rehabilitation centers.

But it is not enough to offer a wide array of medical care. We work every single day to ensure that the quality of that care is second-to-none. The Joint Commission performs one of the most rigorous reviews of hospitals around the country to assess quality of care provided. Tampa General is accredited by The Joint Commission. In addition, The Joint Commission also examines specific medical programs to determine if each meets the criteria to become a Joint Commission certified program. In early 2007, The Joint Commission awarded Tampa General Disease-Specific Care recertification for 11 disease management programs following an extensive on-site evaluation by a team of Joint Commission reviewers. Each program was evaluated against Joint Commission standards through an assessment of the program’s processes and the ability to evaluate and improve patient care within its organization. The reviewers also interviewed patients and staff.

The Gold Seal certifications were awarded in the areas of: Bariatric Services, Burn, complex Orthopedic Services, Epilepsy, Heart Transplant, Liver Transplant, Orthopedic Joint Replacement, Sleep Disorders, Stroke, Surgical Digestive Disorders and Gastrointestinal Cancers, and Trauma.

In January of 2005, TGH was the first and only hospital in the country to receive disease-specific certification in 11 specific areas of health care from the nation’s largest independent organization that monitors the quality and safety of patient care.

If you are a patient at our hospital, the one care provider you will have contact with on a daily basis is your nurse. Again, the quality of a hospital’s nursing program can be evaluated and graded. Tampa General has received national recognition for its nursing program.

Tampa General Hospital is a Magnet designated hospital – the highest recognition a hospital can receive for nursing services. The designation was awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, (ANCC) a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association and the largest and most prominent nurse credentialing organization in the country. Tampa General will maintain that designation for four years.

The Magnet Recognition Program recognizes healthcare organizations that demonstrate excellence in nursing philosophy and practice, adherence to national standards for improving patient care, leadership and sensitivity to cultural and ethnic diversity. Tampa General underwent a rigorous evaluation that included extensive interviews and review of nursing services, clinical outcomes and patient care.

You can learn more about our services, our nurses and physicians, and our community outreach programs and volunteer opportunities by browsing through our Web site”.

As stated by the President of Tampa General Hospital Mr. Ron Hytoff.