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Iron Mountain VA Medical Center wins fourth consecutive national Best Experience Award

Photo of Ellison and Kadowaki receiving the Best Experience Award
Tim Ellison (center), Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center Veteran Experience Officer, and Dr. Mark Kadowaki (right), OGJVAMC Chief of Staff, receive the 2021 Best Experience Award for a level III facility from Dr. Shereef Elnahal (left), Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health, during the Customer Experience Symposium in Washington, DC, Sept. 7. This is the fourth consecutive year the Iron Mountain VA has won a Best Experience Award, the only VA system to have done so. Photo by Veteran Affairs Photographer Eugene Russell
By Robert Wollenberg, Public Affairs Specialist

The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center received the 2021 Best Experience Award for level III (small, low complexity) facilities during the Customer Experience Symposium Sept. 7, in Washington D.C.

“Since I’ve been with the VA, this has been one of the most impressive teams I’ve worked with,” said Acting Medical Center Director Zachary Sage.  “Receiving this award reflects the dedication and care our staff has for our Veterans and each other. It’s humbling to be a member of this team.”

In both 2018 and 2019, the facility was awarded the Best Experience Award for level III facilities, and in 2020, the Best Overall Experience Award, besting 169 other medical centers nationwide. 

Since 2012, Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center has been consistently in the top 10 of all VA health care facilities for employee and patient satisfaction, according to the VA All Employee Survey and V-Signals survey, which measures patient satisfaction.

Sage explained that a few of the actions taken that contributed to this year’s success included maintaining an open-door policy to executive leadership and collaborating with stakeholders to improve the patient experience. 

“We also used Facebook Live and tele-townhalls to engage more than 20,000 Veterans and family members virtually since 2018, and expanded whole health programs and services more than 40 percent based on Veteran feedback,” he added. 

Outside of the VA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses a five-star quality rating system to measure the experiences Medicare beneficiaries have with their health plan and health care system, the Star Rating Program.  Ratings are on a scale of one to five stars, with five being the highest. The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center is the only VA hospital to receive a 5-star summary rating in every reporting cycle since VA medical centers were included in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems ratings in 2017.

To enroll with the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center, visit our website at https://www.va.gov/iron-mountain-health-care/ and click the “Register for care” link or visit us at 325 East H. Street in Iron Mountain, Michigan.

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