DC Area Healthcare Facilities Showcase Innovative Caregiver Program

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ceca Foundation, established in 2013 to celebrate caregiver excellence and promote quality patient care, announced today that it completed the launch of its Ceca Caregiver Award Program to 10 Washington DC area healthcare facilities and plans to expand the program to healthcare institutions nationwide.

"We have all witnessed the power of a caregiver's touch. Too often, however, those exceptional acts of caregiving go unrecognized and unrewarded.  This can lead to unnecessary caregiver turnover, which drives up costs and undermines patient care," said Matthew P. Lawlor, Chair & CEO of Ceca Foundation.  "Our goal is to address the problem culturally using innovative technology to empower caregivers themselves to improve communication, teamwork and focus on the patient".

Ceca partners with hospitals, nursing homes, hospice centers and mental health facilities to recognize their exceptional caregivers.  Ceca provides the necessary software tools and operating support, while underwriting most costs, thereby freeing up resources for healthcare partners to focus on their patients.

Providence Health System, part of Ascension Health, a Catholic hospital system which is the largest non-profit health system in the US, adopted Ceca's caregiver recognition program two years ago. President and CEO Darcy Burthay noted, "Our staff values the program and Ceca oversees the entire process. It's a great opportunity to recognize the high quality, mission-driven work of our caregivers".

Staff members use their smartphones, tablets and computers to access Ceca's peer-to-peer recognition platform and nominate co-workers for the Ceca Award. Photos of each nominee are posted on web-enabled TVs placed in each facility, as are photos of the Ceca Award ceremonies, broadening the public recognition well beyond the awards themselves.

"The Ceca Program complements our tradition of recognizing all employees who provide high-quality patient care, by providing colleagues, managers, patients, families and even volunteers a platform to acknowledge exceptional team members" said Philip Down, CEO of Doctors Community Hospital of Lanham, Md.  "Ceca's program not only offers financial awards ranging from $250 to $1000, but the public recognition encourages others to continuously exceed expectations," he continued.

Capital Caring, a national leader in hospice and palliative care based in Falls Church, VA, has served more than 100,000 individuals since its founding in 1977 in a variety of settings including state-of-the-art inpatient care centers across the DC region.  CEO Malene Davis commented, "While our honorees welcome the cash award, it's the recognition from their peers that really moves them. We've had more than 35 percent of our staff receive nominations. That's incredible reach!"

"Caregivers who feel valued are more engaged and perform at higher levels", says Barbara D'Agostino, Chief Operating Officer of the Army Distaff Foundation and Knollwood, a 501(c)(3) Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) for retired military officers and their families.  "Whether or not the nominee earns a cash award, they receive genuine respect and priceless positive public recognition."      

Ceca's software tracks nominations and produces reports for evaluation. It coordinates independent panels of judges, who review nominations and select honorees. Ceca provides additional support for award ceremonies, which are held monthly or quarterly depending on the size of the facility.

Steve Nash, President and CEO of Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home and Stoddard Baptist Global Care in Washington DC, emphasized the Ceca Award's broad appeal. "We serve communities in two very economically distinct areas of the city, and have found that caregivers at both locations have benefitted immensely from the ability to recognize and be recognized by their peers, residents and families."   

Also participating in Ceca's launch are Mary Marshall, a joint project of Volunteers of America and Arlington County (VA), which serves poor and aging residents who require mental health services; Psychiatric Institute of Washington DC, an affiliate of Universal Health Services (UHS) serving a younger population with acute mental health needs; Manassas Health and Rehabilitation, managed by the for-profit Commonwealth Care of Roanoke (VA); and Forest Hills of Washington DC (formerly Methodist Home), a non-profit which operates two facilities under a single management group.     

"Over the past two years, we've honed our methods, developed scalable systems, diversified our experience and identified metrics to gauge and verify our success," concluded Lawlor.  "There is also the part that can't be measured – the genuine feelings of joy and appreciation that flow during an award ceremony when a team member is honored.  We're now ready to spread the wings with a national roll-out and plan to select up to 10 additional east-coast healthcare institutions over the next six months."   

About Ceca Foundation
Ceca Foundation was established in 2013 to celebrate caregiver excellence.  Ceca's mission is to promote high patient satisfaction by recognizing and rewarding outstanding caregivers.  Based in Washington DC, Ceca Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation.  

Ceca Foundation launch participants include: Capital Caring, Doctors Community Hospital, Forest Hills of DC, Knollwood, Manassas Health and Rehab, Mary Marshall Assisted Living, Providence Hospital, Psychiatric Institute of Washington, Stoddard Baptist Nursing and SBGC at Washington Center.

For more information visit www.cecafoundation.org.  Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.

SOURCE Ceca Foundation

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