In an effort to meet the increasing community need for mammography screenings and diagnostics, St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach recently rededicated its newly-expanded and modernized Sister Mary Sabina Sullivan Women’s Health Center and the Vincent Esposito Imaging Center. With the support of the St. Mary Medical Center Foundation, the Women’s Health Center was updated with a second digital mammography unit and relocated (to the first floor of the 1045 Atlantic Avenue Professional Building) to provide more efficient services to its patients. Nearly 7,500 women go to the center every year, and 90 percent of them have little or no health care insurance. The rededication celebration on Nov. 12 was held in memory of the center’s namesake, Sister Mary Sabina Sullivan, and its physician-founder Vincent Esposito, M.D. With its reopening, the center will continue its mission to provide services to all who enter through the doors, regardless of their age or ability to pay. Separately, St. Mary Medical Center was awarded its third consecutive “A” for hospital safety as reported yesterday by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. Of 2,539 acute care hospitals graded, 813 received an A. St. Mary Medical Center staff and physicians provide the patient-centered care that contributed to this outstanding score. St. Mary Medical Center voluntarily participates in The Leapfrog Group Hospital Survey, which is considered the gold standard in transparent public reporting of hospital performance. “I have personally witnessed compassionate, safety-focused care during daily rounds and am pleased and proud of our employees, our medical staff, our leadership team, and our Community Board,” said Tom Salerno, president/CEO of St. Mary Medical Center.
{gallery width=100 height=100}gallery/2013/1115/spstmary/{/gallery} LCMH honored nationally for quality and safety Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance was recognized today as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, the leading healthcare accrediting organization in America. The hospital also earned an A rating recently from the Leapfrog Group, which measures patient safety. The Hospital Safety Score program began in June 2012 and rates hospitals twice a year based on the latest publically reported data. “Our goal is to provide every single patient with exceptional care, and our physicians, our nurses and our entire staff continuously ensures that we provide outstanding care,” said Liz Dunne, the hospital’s chief executive. “Our collaborative efforts are part of a unified vision to give the highest quality service to each individual who entrusts us with his or her care. From the moment a patient arrives, our team is dedicated to excellence, safety and compassionate care.” The Joint Commission recognized Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance for exemplary performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions. The clinical processes focus on care for heart attack, pneumonia, surgery, children’s asthma, stroke and venous thromboembolism. New this year is a category for immunization for pneumonia and influenza. The hospital also has been named among Truven Health Analytics’ 100 Top Hospitals in the nation for the past two years. In this latest honor, Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance earned the distinction of Top Performer on Key Quality Measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance. The ratings are based on data reported in 2012 to The Joint Commission. Hospitals named as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures must achieve cumulative performance of 95 percent or above across all reported accountability measures; achieve performance of 95 percent or above on each and every reported accountability measure where there are at least 30 denominator cases; and have at least one core measure set that has a composite rate of 95 percent or above, and within that measure set all applicable individual accountability measures have a performance rate of 95 percent or above. A 95 percent score means a hospital provided an evidence-based practice 95 times out of 100 opportunities. St. Dominic Savio Church to host ‘Misa Criolla’ Nov. 15 To celebrate the closing of the Year of Faith, St. Dominic Savio Church in Bellflower is hosting a special concert presentation in the church on Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. Canticorum, a visiting choir directed by Javier Romero, will present the two-part concert. The first part consisting of classical sacred choral music, followed by Ariel Ramirez’s famous folk Mass composition “Misa Criolla” (“Creole Mass”), which is characterized by the rhythms and instruments of indigenous music from across Latin America. An Argentine composer, pianist and music director, the late Ramirez composed “Misa Criolla” in 1964 after a visit to Germany, where he encountered a group of nuns who inspired him to create the spiritual piece — one of the first Masses to be celebrated in a modern language (Spanish) following the Second Vatican Council. Dr. Raul Vallejo, a parishioner who helped coordinate the musical presentation, described the upcoming concert as a fitting conclusion to the Year of Faith. “Music is a wonderful way to express our faith, and this music is very beautiful; the first part will make you feel uplifted and the second part will make you feel transported,” Vallejo told The Tidings. “Music is also a good way to bring people together; we’re inviting other parishes to come join us for this concert.” Tickets are $10 in advance, or $12 each at the door. St. Dominic Savio is located at 13400 Bellflower Blvd., Bellflower. For information, call (562) 920-7796. LMU Choruses perform Holiday Benefit Concert in Redondo Beach The Choruses from Loyola Marymount University, under the direction of Dr. Mary Breden, will present a benefit concert featuring an array of holiday choral music on Nov. 22, 8 p.m. at St. Lawrence Martyr Parish Hall, Redondo Beach. Appearing will be the Consort Singers, the Women’s Chorus and the Concert Choir, all conducted by Breden, LMU director of Choral Activities. Featured works will be Benjamin Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb,” William Mathias’ “Salvator Mundi,” Emma Lou Diemer’s “Feast for Christmas” and Stephen Paulus’ “We Sing Thy Birth,” along with other music of the season. St. Lawrence Martyr is located at 1900 S. Prospect Ave., Redondo Beach. A freewill offering will benefit the Ralph E. Breden Scholarship Fund. For further information call (310) 338-5154. The LMU Choruses will perform their annual Gala Christmas Concert on Dec. 5 and 7, 8 p.m. in LMU’s Sacred Heart Chapel on the Westchester campus. Tickets $12 for Dec. 5, and $15 and $12 for Dec. 7.
