LifeCenter Northwest Honors VMFH

April 13, 2021

The Western Washington-based health system leads the region in supporting life-saving organ and tissue donation

LifeCenter Northwest is proud to announce that the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health system was recognized with 16 awards from LifeCenter Northwest’s 2020 Hospital Awards, which recognize excellence in supporting life-saving organ and tissue donation.

The Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Virtual ICU (vICU), based in Tacoma, Wash., is the winner of our 2020 Donation Innovation Award. This award is presented annually to one hospital or system that demonstrates their commitment to careful evaluation of their organ donation processes and has taken specific steps to improve outcomes.

The vICU is made up of a team of more than 150 clinicians and IT professionals. Within their Tacoma headquarters, the vICU team monitors hundreds of beds across many hospitals thanks to a fleet of technological equipment, including monitors and Bluetooth-enabled stethoscopes. In their quest to move toward proactive care, the vICU has become a valuable part of the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health donation program.

“We are honored to receive the 2020 Donation Innovation Award from LifeCenter Northwest,” said Laura Meacham, director of care operations for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health’s Virtual Health Services. “It’s a testament to the entire Virtual ICU team’s commitment to respecting the wishes of our patients who would like to save and heal lives through organ and tissue donation.”

St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale, Wash., part of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, is the winner of our 2020 Donation Excellence Award. This award is presented annually to one hospital in our service area that demonstrates impressive outcomes, strong and effective processes and unwavering dedication to improving the lives of both donor families and transplant recipients.

St. Michael Medical Center, over the last three years, has grown into one of the top-performing donor hospitals in the Puget Sound region. The hospital’s donor potential has increased from 5 donors to 11 donors while maintaining an above-average timely referral rate and an overall 100 percent authorization rate in 2020. Last year, St. Michael Medical Center maintained or improved its donation metrics in all key categories—all while juggling the pandemic and opening a new hospital facility.

“We are thrilled to receive the Donation Excellence Award from LifeCenter Northwest,” said St. Michael Medical Center’s VP of Patient Care Services and CNO, Jeanell Rasmussen. “Organ and tissue donation is a deeply personal decision for a patient and our St. Michael Medical Center team is dedicated to working with our LifeCenter Northwest partners to honor these wishes and improve the lives of both donor families and transplant recipients.”

In addition to these two honors, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health facilities across the state of Washington won 14 achievement awards for their donation performance in 2020. A full list of those award winners are included below.

“It is an honor to work with outstanding hospital partners like Virginia Mason Franciscan Health,” said LifeCenter Northwest President and CEO, Kevin O’Connor. “We greatly appreciate the contributions they make to help save and heal lives through organ and tissue donation.”

The Donation Referral Achievement Award is presented to hospitals for reaching or exceeding a referral rate of 90 percent for organ donation or 95 percent for tissue donation. Facilities that received this honor include:

• Organ: St. Clare Hospital, Lakewood, St. Michael Medical Center, Silverdale, and Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle
• Tissue: Franciscan Hospice House, University Place and St. Anthony Hospital, Gig Harbor

The Organ Donation Achievement Award is presented to hospitals with a two-year average of three or more potential donors per year who reach or exceed a 65 percent donation rate, as well as hospitals with a two-year average of less than three potential donors reaching or exceeding a 75 percent donation rate. Facilities that received this honor include:

• St. Michael Medical Center, Silverdale
• St. Anthony Hospital, Gig Harbor
• St. Clare Hospital, Lakewood

The Tissue Donation Achievement Award is presented to hospitals who reach or exceed a 55 percent tissue donation rate, which is well above the national average. Facilities that received this honor include:

• Franciscan Hospice House, University Place
• St. Francis Hospital, Federal Way
• St. Michael Medical Center, Silverdale

The Collaboration Achievement Award honors our hospital partners who excel in the area of planning a collaborative donor family conversation with LifeCenter Northwest — reaching or exceeding a 90 percent collaborative request rate. Facilities that received this honor include:

• St. Anne Hospital, Burien
• St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma
• Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle

The full list of achievement awards and recipients is included in LifeCenter Northwest’s 2020 Annual Report. The report is available online at www.lcnw.org.

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is an integrated health system serving the Puget Sound region of Washington state, offering access to some of the country’s most prestigious experts and hospitals that are internationally known for superior quality. With a team of 18,000 team members, including nearly 5,000 employed physicians and affiliated providers, we unite the brightest health care minds in the region to provide world-class clinical excellence at 11 hospitals and nearly 300 sites of care throughout the Puget Sound area. We are proud to be the home of Bailey-Boushay House, the first skilled-nursing and outpatient chronic care management program in the United States designed specifically to meet the needs of people with HIV/AIDS, and Benaroya Research Institute, which is internationally recognized for autoimmune disease research. We embrace our community’s uniquely vibrant, active culture by providing holistic, personalized and patient-centered care. We are committed to caring for the most vulnerable in our communities, including the poor and underserved, providing more than $300 million in community benefit – free, subsidized, and reduced cost health care and programs.

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health was formed in 2021 by bringing together two leading health systems in Washington state. Our family of hospitals includes Virginia Mason Hospital, Seattle; St. Anthony Hospital, Gig Harbor; St. Clare Hospital, Lakewood; St. Elizabeth Hospital, Enumclaw; St. Francis Hospital, Federal Way; St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma; St. Michael Medical Center, Silverdale and Bremerton; St. Anne Hospital, Burien; Rehabilitation Hospital, Tacoma; and Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital, Tacoma.

LifeCenter Northwest is the federally-designated organ procurement organization (OPO) serving Alaska, Montana, North Idaho, and Washington — the largest geographic donation service area in the United States. For more information, or to register to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor, please visit www.lcnw.org.