Columbia VA Healthcare Care System Wins 2024 Certified Zero Harm Awards

These awards recognize units with an extraordinary commitment to quality of care who have successfully eliminated some of the most common medical errors in healthcare today.  

South Carolina’s Zero Harm program was created by the South Carolina Hospital Association in collaboration with The Duke Endowment and The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Health to support statewide efforts to create a culture of high reliability and reduce harm in our healthcare facilities. Now in its 11th year, the program currently receives ongoing support from BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and has expanded outside of its clinical focus to touch on other major priority areas like disparities and workplace violence.

The Certified Zero Harm Awards remain the program’s flagship effort. It is a unique statewide recognition thanks to SCHA’s collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control. For each award, hospitals must eliminate or avoid specific preventable hospital-acquired infections over an extended period of time, and that data must be independently verified by DHEC. This unique third-party verification process with the state health department provides exceptional legitimacy to these patient safety awards and is a testament to the spirit of statewide collaboration. 

CVAHCS’s 2024 Zero Harm Awards were in the areas of Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) Hospital Wide, Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Hip Replacement, SSI Abdominal Hysterectomy and SSI Knee Replacement. CVAHCS also was awarded the Drive to Zero Suicides Award.

South Carolina’s Zero Harm Priority Awards are about recognizing all the way our members are thinking about how to reduce harm and improve the quality of life for their communities,” said Thornton Kirby, president and CEO of SCHA. “By thinking expansively and supporting our healthcare facilities in their high-reliability journeys, we are building a better state of health in South Carolina.”

“We are tremendously proud of all our Healthcare Professionals who demonstrate every day a steadfast commitment to providing the highest quality care to our Nation Heroes” said Oscar G. Rodriguez, CVAHCS Acting Medical Center Director/CEO. “These Zero Harm Awards are a testament to the strength and resilience of our entire team.” 

For more information about what’s going on at the Veterans medical center, clinic locations and other services available to Veterans in and around Columbia, visit the website https://www.va.gov/columbia-south-carolina-health-care/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, keyword: VAColumbiaSC.

About the Columbia VAHCS:

The Columbia VAHCS comprises the Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center and seven community-based outpatient clinics located throughout South Carolina in Anderson, Florence, Greenville, Orangeburg, Rock Hill, Spartanburg, and Sumter; serving more than 90,000 veterans annually in 36 of 46 counties in South Carolina. The Columbia VA is a level 1b teaching hospital, providing a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology, education, and research. Comprehensive health care is provided through primary care, tertiary care and long-term care in areas of medicine, surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine, and rehabilitation.

D. Keith Johnson, Public Affairs Specialist

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