2001 Optima Award Ceremony

As to the first, Chief Operating Officer Kenneth Winston noted in his acceptance remarks that the program was based on teamwork between a for-profit facility (Glengariff) and a not-for-profit institution (Winthrop Hospital). "This type of partnership doesn't occur very often," he observed.

Winthrop's vice-president of administration, Deborah Johnson, concurred, saying that the program furthered her institution's goal of "providing holistic dialysis treatment for our patients."

The second surprise came when Glengariff Administrator Maryann Crenny awarded special recognition to the facility's director of engineering, Brian Carmichael. His role, she said, was critical in ensuring that a skilled nursing facility could meet its clinical responsibilities in this relatively high-tech environment. Glengariff's dialysis center serves 36 patients a week, and anticipates expanding to 48.

Since its inception, the Glengariff program has reduced patients' average length of stay by 11 days and reduced costs by 36%. The program has also been praised by patients and families for its convenience and improvement of patients' overall health status, while allowing patients who reside in the facility to participate more fully in scheduled activities. Closer working relationships have also evolved between the facility and Winthrop's physicians, who have become privileged and credentialed at the facility and have the opportunity to attend medical staff meetings. NH