Palos Community Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit receives 2013 Beacon Award for Excellence

Palos Community Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit has received the 2013 Beacon Award for Excellence, a national recognition from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, for outstanding professional practice and patient outcomes.

“Over the past 18 months, staff and leadership in the Intensive Care Unit have been on a journey toward achieving this national award,” says Trish Heerlein, assistant vice president, Special Care Units. “With this outstanding accomplishment, the families of our ICU patients can feel confident their loved ones are receiving the highest quality care possible.”

The ICU at Palos is one of only 10 hospital units in Illinois to currently have this distinction.

The three-year bronze-level award recognizes Palos for “improving every facet of patient care,” according to the AACN, and serves as a “significant milestone on the path to achieving exceptional patient care and a healthy work environment.”

For critical care nurses, the Beacon Award means greater collaboration between colleagues and leaders, higher morale and lower turnover. 

“The whole nursing department is very proud of the recognition our nursing colleagues in the Intensive Care Unit have received,” says Rose Demask, vice president of Nursing. “We offer them our heartfelt congratulations on this outstanding achievement.”

Palos Community Hospital’s 24-bed Intensive Care Unit, now located in the Hospitaller Pavilion, offers world-class health care services and technology, delivered by the area’s finest medical professionals.

“This recognition shows our ICU nurses are experts at what they do,” says Clinical Nurse Manager Patty Vartanian. “They are dedicated to being the best they can be.”