Baystate Earns Fifth Beacon Award

SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Medical Center’s Daly 6-2 Surgical Intermediate Care Unit has joined the ranks of the top health care teams in the nation, becoming one of only two such units ever to win the American Assoc. of Critical Care Nurses’ Beacon Award.

The honor is a first for an intermediate care unit in all of New England. Baystate has won five Beacon awards altogether. The hospital’s Adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) earlier this year won a critical care Beacon Award for the fourth consecutive time — the only unit in the nation to do so, and the only ICU in New England to be recognized in 2008. Intermediate care units meet an important need for care for patients who are too sick for a standard medical-surgical unit but do not require the level of care provided in an ICU.

“I commend the Daly 6-2 nursing and patient care team for their dedication and commitment to providing the very best care to patients,” said Deborah Morsi, vice president of Patient Care Services for Baystate Medical Center, and chief nursing officer for Baystate Health.

As recipient of a Beacon, Daly 6-2 met rigid criteria for excellence, adhering to high standards of quality in leadership, recruiting, and training nurses, and caring for patients and their families. “I’m so proud of the Daly 6-2 team,” said Mike Davis, unit manager. “Every day and night they work together to deliver outstanding care to acutely ill patients. They deserve this national recognition.”

“This award is a wonderful public recognition of the outstanding care our patients receive in our surgical intermediate care unit,” added Trish Hannon, chief operating officer of Baystate Medical  Center, and senior vice president of Health Care Operations for Baystate Health.

“The clinical leaders and staff have focused their efforts toward quality, safety, and evidenced-based care as a team,” she added. “This recognition further emphasizes BMC’s position as a leading medical center in Massachusetts and the country. This award also provides an opportunity for employees and others linked to BMC to share in the pride of this accomplishment through their work and support.”