Mackinac Straits Hospital Staff Earns Governor's Award

Mackinac Straits Hospital and Health Center received a Governor's Award of Exellence from Governor Jennifer Granholm during a banquet in Kalamazoo Monday, September 10, for improving patient quality care. It is the third consecutive year Mackinac Straits has been given such an award. Pictured (from left) are Nick Lyon of Michigan Department of Community Health; Colleen Cieszkowski, RN, senior vice president of operations; Tamie Hartwig, director of nursing for acute care for Mackinac Straits Hospital; Rod Nelson, Mackinac Straits Hospital CEO, and Pam Yager, policy advisor of health care and financial services for the Office of Governor Granholm. (Photograph courtesy of Michigan Peer Review Organization)

For the third consecutive year, Mackinac Straits Hospital and Health Center in St. Ignace received the Governor's Award of Excellence from Governor Jennifer Granholm. Mackinac Straits Hospital was recognized for its excellence in collecting and reporting data, and in improvement for health information technology for the 2006 fiscal year.

The award was given at a Michigan Peer Review Organization banquet in Kalamazoo Monday, September 10. Hospital CEO Rod Nelson and Director of Nursing for Emergency Department and Acute Care Tamie Hartwig attended the banquet and received the award on behalf of the hospital's staff.

Awards are based on excellence in clinical areas that are designated as national health care priorities by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Michigan Peer Review Organization (MPRO) is Medicare's quality improvement organization for the state of Michigan.

"This is a good indication of the high quality of care our physicians and staff provide for our community," said Mr. Nelson. "Mackinac Straits Hospital continues to implement processes to improve the care we provide at our facility."

The staff has been able to provide great personal care and attention for their patients, Mrs. Hartwig said, and the state has recognized and commended them for it.

"This is a small town hospital and we're able to give personalized care to our patients," she said. [Staff members] "go over and above what is expected of them. Nurses and physicians here have worked hard to be sure patients are getting the highest quality of care at Mackinac Straits Hospital."