The American College of Surgeons and the Society for Vascular Surgery, through their Vascular Verification Program (VVP), recently recognized Intermountain Health St. Mary’s Regional Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado as providing the highest level of care. The VVP is a national quality verification program focused on the care and treatment of patients receiving vascular surgical and interventional care in an inpatient or outpatient setting. The hospital is the fifth nationwide to receive this recognition, and the first community hospital.
Yale School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant (PA) Online Program alumna Jeena Fuller, MMSc ’21, PA-C, who has been working in vascular surgery since graduation, was part of the hospital’s core team that led the effort to receive this recognition. (Kate Shuman, NP, and the hospital’s three surgeons, Tej Singh, MD, MBA, Justin Walpole, MD, and Truc Ta, MD, were the other team members.)
Over 18 months, the team participated in the verification application process, which included refining their QA process, protocols for all post-operative care and order sets, how they educated the nurses in the ICU and all other units of the hospital to take care of patients pre- and post-operatively, monitoring for and managing complications, patient safety, conducting research, and engaging in education. (Fuller precepts and lectures for the local PA program at Colorado Mesa University) A site visit was required, to assess the hospital, OR, interactions with other specialty groups in the hospital, hands-on skills, and morbidity and mortality rates.
Singh, quoted in local Colorado media, stated, “This is truly a great honor for St. Mary’s. It places us on the national vascular surgery map and reflects our commitment to providing the best care for our patients in our 250-mile service area in Western Colorado.”
Fuller says, “None of this would’ve been possible without the top-notch training and networking I received from the PA Online Program.”