SPRINGFIELD - Crozer-Keystone Health System, the largest employer and health care provider in Delaware County, joins health systems across the country in recognizing National Patient Safety Awareness Week, March 8-14. 

Led by the National Patient Safety Foundation, National Patient Safety Awareness Week is an education and awareness-building campaign to improve patient safety at the local level.

“Crozer-Keystone strongly supports the ideals of National Patient Safety Awareness Week, and particularly this year’s theme, ‘One Partnership, One Team.’ We understand that patient safety is a team effort that requires the commitment of our caregivers as well as our patients and their family members,” says Eric Dobkin, M.D., vice president of Quality and Patient Safety for the health system.

Toward that end, Crozer-Keystone offers the following patient safety tips for members of the community, courtesy of the National Patient Safety Foundation:

·         Get rid of old or expired medications.

·         Bring your medications to your doctor or pharmacist for review.

·         Obtain copies of all your health care records and keep them in a safe place.

·         Write down and carry with you all of your prescription and over the counter medications (including doses), as well as any allergies.

·         Write down and carry with you the names and numbers of all of your health care providers and pharmacies.

·         Identify an advocate (either family member or friend) who can accompany you and ask questions on your behalf.

·         Talk with your family or other close individuals about what your preferences are for your health care, in case you are unable to speak for yourself.

Crozer-Keystone’s commitment to patient safety and clinical excellence has been recognized by several organizations over the past few years. Among the health system’s recent honors:

·         Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Springfield Hospital were recognized as two of only four finalists for the 2008 Delaware Valley Patient Safety Award by the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council (DVHC) of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP)

·         VHA  honored Springfield Hospital with a Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence in the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia; Crozer-Chester Medical Center with an Award of Excellence for Outstanding Performance in Glucose Control; and Delaware County Memorial Hospital with a Best Practice Hospital award for Glycemic Control.

·         Two Crozer-Keystone hospitals, Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Delaware County Memorial Hospital have been named Primary Stroke Centers by the Joint Commission. In addition, Taylor Hospital received Bronze and Silver Awards for Excellence in the American Stroke Association’s “Get with the Guidelines” program (Crozer and DCMH have also received Bronze Awards in this program).

For more information patients can use to be active participants in their health care, visit http://patientsafety.crozer.org. For more information about National Patient Safety Awareness Week, visit http://www.npsf.org/hp/psaw/.

With more than 1,100 physicians and 7,100 employees, Crozer-Keystone Health System is the largest health system and employer in Delaware County. The health system comprises a comprehensive physician network of primary-care and specialty practices as well as five hospitals: Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Springfield Hospital in Springfield and Community Hospital in Chester. For more information, visit www.crozer.org.