Children's Emergency Department is now located in Children's Tower: 1001 E. Marshall Street.

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Quality and safety initiatives

Quality and safety initiatives

A patient-centered approach to ensure we're among the safest hospitals in the country

The first line of the VCU Health mission statement is "to preserve and restore health for all people." Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU takes that mission seriously through our care domains of: Do Not Harm Me, Heal Me, Keep Me Well, Navigate My Care, and Treat Me with RespectWe strive to be a health system that cures our patients with the highest quality treatments, using the most efficient processes, keeping the patient and family's interests at the center, and working to ensure that the tests and treatments we provide do not lead to harm.

Why do we measure?

We want to be recognized among the safest children's hospitals in the country. In order to do that, we need to know how we compare. Through this website, we have chosen important indicators of how we are doing. We have chosen them not based on what numbers look best, but what metrics are most important to preserve and restore children's health.

Whether our numbers indicate excellence or a need for improvement, we believe that being transparent is the right thing to do. We have a passionate team of providers, nurses and staff and we hold ourselves to a high standard.

Collaborating with other top children’s hospitals and organizations

We collaborate with children’s hospitals across the country to share knowledge. From outcomes for common problems that cause children to be hospitalized like asthma or surgery to ensuring the best care for chronic diseases like Crohn’s disease, CHoR is working together with other top children’s hospitals to ensure that our patients receive the best and safest care.

Children's Hospital Association logo        VIP Network logo

Solutions for Patient Safety logo   Improve Care Now logo

acs national surgical quality improvement program      high value practice academic alliance logo

Vermont Oxford Network logo     Cistic Fibrosis Foundation logo

Learn more about our quality and safety initiatives


Quality council

Our safety and quality efforts are led by a multidisciplinary team of pediatric experts, as well as patient family members. From sepsis to unplanned extubations, this council develops and implements quality improvement plans that improve care and outcomes for our patients. Our QI work is shared with peer institutions and coalitions to impact the lives of children across the globe. Although this team is dedicated to QI, everyone at CHoR has a responsibility for quality and safety.

Family engagement 

We recognize that families and caregivers bring incredible insight and perspective to their child’s care. We value this and consistently seek input from families to improve our processes and keep children safe while they are being cared for in our hospital or clinics. Here are a few ways families can help our care teams deliver the safest care possible:

  • Wash your hands and remind our care team members to wash their hands
  • Discuss all medications your child is taking
  • Speak up if you have a concern about your child

While we encourage you to raise safety concerns with your child’s care team as soon as they occur, you may also direct safety concerns to our Quality & Safety Team

 

Quality improvement leadership team

Elizabeth Peterson, RN, MPH, CPHQ
Elizabeth Peterson, RN, MPH, CPHQ Director of quality, safety and analytics
Matthew Schefft, DO, MSHA, FAAP
Matthew Schefft, DO, MSHA, FAAP Associate chief quality and safety officer 

Residency quality improvement track

Ashlie Tseng, MD
Ashlie Tseng, MD Director, pediatric residency quality improvement track Assistant professor, Division of Hospital Medicine

Improvement science and analytics team

Christy Harrel
Christy Harrel Performance improvement coordinator
Erika Liptrap
Erika Liptrap Business intelligence analyst III
Jeremy Santoro, MSHA, RD
Jeremy Santoro, MSHA, RD Business intelligence analyst II