Heritage Snapshot: Part 246

LOMA LINDA>> Partnering with Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital has also benefited Loma Linda University Medical Center, which learned how Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation works in foreign countries. It has also been rewarding for Loma Linda administrators to see how a culture of quality improvement can actually change a hospital; to see how a Chinese hospital can improve itself by going through the JCI accreditation process. According to Gerald R. Winslow, PhD, LLUMC Vice-President for Mission and Culture, Loma Linda has gained a better understanding of our world. “We’ve learned how to relate to a wonderful culture that has thousands of years of history, which enriches all of our lives because of what we’ve been able to learn,” he said. Joint Commission International accreditation demonstrated that cost effective, quality health care with Western-style medicine could be implemented in China. The cost effectiveness from the 50 percent decreased length-of-stay that has been so dramatic in the hospital, has become a model for the entire country. The introduction of innovative technology and procedures, the implementation of very high standards of quality care, and the cost effectiveness of health care, plus the implementation of a strategic vision, evolved over a period of 20 years. JCI accreditation taught the Chinese that a hospital is far more than the sum of its total activities and responsibilities. They started to realize that a hospital is a comprehensive system. Its impact features patients' rights, privacy, safety, equality, uniform service, trust and choice in the selection of medical staff. It was a new concept. They had a lot of criteria to understand, adapt to Chinese culture and learn to follow. By achieving a high level of prestige and credibility, SRRSH has become a training base for Chinese hospital leaders. Thousands from across the country have participated in international seminars on hospital management. These seminars have not only helped form the academic atmosphere at SRRSH, but also have provided a platform for international dialog and academic exchange. In 2011, SRRSH assumed a health-care leadership role in China with its medical leadership training conferences. Since the beginning, 750 medical experts and management professionals Loma Linda University has sent to China have included physicians, dentists, nurses, dental hygienists, dietitians, engineers, pharmacists, financial administrators, health information specialists and China Project management staff. These American professionals have not only brought advanced medical techniques to China, but also have shared their modern philosophies of hospital management style and service. Meanwhile SRRSH has sent 300 members of its staff to Loma Linda for further training. Together, they have greatly influenced and inspired the SRRSH staff, gradually helping to form its current philosophy of service. LLUMC and the LLU School of Nursing mentor SRRSH nursing administrators on the Loma Linda campus. Past delegations have included critical care, ambulatory care, and medical-surgical nurses. SRRSH nursing professionals spend three months with Medical Center preceptors in their area of specialty and meet with various department heads. They also attend School of Nursing senior-level courses on management and leadership. “The visiting nurses leave our campus saying they have a new vision of nursing and a better understanding of how important nursing education is,” emphasizes Jan Zumwalt, Executive Director, International Affairs for LLUMC and Associate Director of the Global Health Institute for Loma Linda University Health. Although SRRSH is a leader in health-care reform for the whole country, its administrators solicit exchange opportunities to learn from hospitals around the world during an annual October academic week, which is seen by all participants as a beneficial two-way street. Everyone benefits. The Annual International Academic Week began in 2005. This collaboration further broadened the hospital’s international cooperation and communication with other world-famous organizations such as the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (Australia), and Asian Heart Institute (India). The success of the institution has not gone unnoticed in China and abroad. SRRSH was designated by the Consulate of the United States of America as the designated hospital for President Bill Clinton, when he visited Hangzhou in September 2005.