Industry leader:
DCH receives
Alabama Performance
Excellence Award
T
he Alaquest Center for Performance Excellence
Review Board designated the DCH Health System
as a recipient of the Level 3–Alabama Perfor-
mance Excellence Award.
“The examiners and judges were very impressed with
the commitment DCH has made to performance excel-
lence,” Linda Vincent, award administrator, said. “Being
selected as a recipient of the Alabama Performance
Excellence Award is evidence that DCH strives to be-
come a leader in its industry.”
DCH was recognized as an award recipient at a con-
ference in Perdido Beach in January.
The Alabama Performance Excellence Award is mod-
eled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
DCH HEALTH SYSTEM
hospitals will take a leader-
ship role in improving the health of their communities
by making their campuses tobacco-free on Jan. ,
.
At its January meeting, the Health System board of di-
rectors voted that no tobacco use of any kind, indoors or
outdoors, will be permitted on hospital property at DCH
Regional Medical Center, Northport Medical Center and
TOBACCO-FREE
POLICY AT DCH
HOSPITALS
Fayette Medical Center. e new policy will apply to all
sta , patients, visitors, guests, vendors, volunteers and
contractual workers, as well as the public.
“Our mission is to improve the health of the people
and communities we serve,” DCH President/CEO Bryan
Kindred said. “Making our campuses tobacco-free is an
important way to provide leadership in this e ort.”
Tobacco use remains the No. cause of preventable and
premature deaths nationwide, and secondhand smoke
contains more than ,
chemicals, of which
are
known carcinogens.
“We have a responsibility to eliminate health
hazards and promote healthy lifestyle choices,”
Kindred said. “Going tobacco-free helps pro-
tec t the community, staff, patients, families
and guests from the harmful e ects of tobacco use.”
Kindred said DCH wants the community to know
of the policy change now so that those working in
or visiting a hospital campus will have time to adequately
prepare. Employees and patients who use tobacco
will be provided
with cessation sup-
port and options
before and after
the campuses go
tobacco-free.
Tobacco use remains the No.
cause of preventable deaths nationwide.
I
f you’re a smoker, you may know
you should stop. That’s a good
start toward quitting.
But you need a powerful reason to
quit for good. Knowing the truth about
how smoking harms your health may
be what it takes.
It’s a fact that smoking is bad for
nearly every part of your body. Here are
a few places smoking does damage.
Airways.
When you smoke,
the soft tissues in your lungs are
inflamed. This can lead to serious
disorders. One is chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease. Smoking can also
bring on cancer in your: Lungs.
Throat. Mouth.
Heart.
Smoking harms the cells lin-
ing the blood vessels and heart. And it
can raise the risk of clots that cause
heart attacks.
Smoking can also play a part in
causing an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
This is when the larger artery near the
stomach grows weak.
Other blood vessels.
Damage
to vessel linings can cause them to
narrow. This means not enough blood
flows to the: Kidneys. Stomach.
Arms, legs and feet.
This can lead to problems like pain
and gangrene.
Brain.
Blood clots that form in
damaged arteries can travel to your
brain. This can cause a stroke that
may be deadly.
Bones and tendons.
Smoking raises
the risk for osteoporosis in both men
and women. This is when bones grow
weak and are more likely to break.
Immune system.
Some of the cells
that destroy germs in the body are
less likely to be found in smokers than
in nonsmokers. That leaves you more
vulnerable to infections.
In addition, smoking can cause
cancer of the: Pancreas. Kid-
neys. Cervix. Stomach. Blood
(leukemia).
Women who smoke tend to have
more problems with pregnancy. These
include:
Premature births. Low-birth-
weight babies. Stillbirths.
And their babies are more likely
to die of SIDS (sudden infant death
syndrome) than babies whose mothers
don’t smoke.
Turn your risks around
On the bright side, there are many
benefits to giving up smoking. They
are listed at
www.morehealth.org
/
quit4good.
There you’ll also find a
guide to help you quit.
Why wait? If you quit now, your
health risks start dropping now too.
And they keep going down, no matter
how long you’ve smoked.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
How tobacco affects your body
Jessi Marshall
Pat Pate
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR,
the
DCH Health System recognizes
employees from its hospitals in
Tuscaloosa, Northport, Fayette
and Pickens County for excellence
on the job.
e employees were nominated
by their peers to receive recognition
awards based on various criteria,
including outstanding job perfor-
mance, attitude, dependability,
and dedication to the mission
of the Health System and its pa-
tients and employees.
DCH Reg iona l Med ica l
Center announced its latest
recipients of the Excellence
Award in December.
Jessi Marshall and Pat Pate were the recipients
of the DCH Regional Medical Center Excellence
Award for the fourth quarter of
.
Marshall is a registered sonographer
in the Radiology Department. She has
been employed by the Regional Medical Center since
August
.
Pate, an EKG technician in Cardiology, has been em-
ployed by the Regional Medical Center since June
.
Recipients of the award from Northport Medical
Center, Fayette Medical Center and Pickens County
Medical Center will be announced at later dates.
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITIONS
W I N T E R 2 0 1 3
3
H E A L T H Y
C O M M U N I T Y
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E C O G N I T I O N S
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