Substance use disorders such as opioid addiction continue to profoundly impact communities across the United States. Prevention programs play a vital role in educating and supporting individuals, families and communities, serving as a cornerstone for protecting both individual and community health.
A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed a troubling trend: the percentage of overdose deaths involving counterfeit pills more than doubled from July 2019 to December 2021, and more than tripled in the Western United States.
Several hospitals with California-based Sutter Health were recognized on Cal Hospital Compare’s 2024 Opioid Care Honor Roll for their commitment to safe and effective opioid prescribing, identifying and treating patients with opioid use disorder, implementing harm reduction strategies and adopting best practices in comprehensive opioid management. Sutter hospitals have made significant progress in this area since this Honor Roll debuted in 2019 with a growing number prioritizing this mounting epidemic.
- Sutter Amador Hospital (Most Improved)
- Sutter Davis Hospital (Most Improved, Excellent Progress)
- Sutter’s Eden Medical Center (Excellent Progress)
- Sutter’s Memorial Medical Center (Most Improved)
- Sutter’s Novato Community Hospital (Excellent Progress)
- Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital (Excellent Progress)
- Sutter Tracy Community Hospital (Excellent Progress)
In addition to those recognized for great programs, 14 additional Sutter facilities were recognized for active engagement in quality improvement efforts in this area.
“Patients seeking medical attention at the emergency department due to opioid-related issues presents a crucial opportunity for intervention, enabling Sutter Health teams to connect patients with opioid disorder treatment programs and medical therapy,” said Ryan Stice, PharmD, BCPS, Sutter Health Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer. “It is critical that hospitals are prepared to actively treat these patients when they come to us for care.”
2024 Patient Safety Honor Roll Hospitals
In addition, Cal Hospital Compare named four Sutter hospitals to its 2024 Patient Safety Honor Roll for providing patients with safe care across dozens of measures.
- Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital
- Sutter Coast Hospital
- Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
- Sutter Solano Medical Center
The Patient Safety Honor Roll uses objective, publicly available patient safety measures to evaluate hospitals across a variety of domains including hospital acquired infections, adverse patient safety events, sepsis management, patient experience and Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades.
The 72 hospitals on the list represent 24% of the 306 adult, acute care hospitals considered for the Honor Roll.
As a high-reliability organization, Sutter promotes a culture of safety in which everyone is empowered to speak up about potential safety concerns. Efforts around this work include:
- The launch of Sutter Safe Care in 2018. The program kicked off Sutter’s journey to becoming a high-reliability organization, with comprehensive training of over 65,000 leaders, physicians, advance practice clinicians and staff.
- Targeted training to onboard new leaders, employees and physicians, to ensure everyone adopts Sutter Safe Care’s high-reliability behaviors and key practices.
- A reliability coach program that empowers frontline staff to support their peers with high-reliability behaviors. Currently, there are over 900 frontline reliability coaches across Sutter, and participation in the program continues to grow, year over year.
