The Lown Institute has recognized Jamaica Hospital and Flushing Hospital Medical Centers for excellence in health equity, receiving an “A” grade on the 2024-25 Lown Institute Hospitals Index for Social Responsibility.
Jamaica Hospital and Flushing Hospital Medical Centers achieved this honor through strong performance across metrics of community benefit, pay equity, and inclusivity out of more than 3,500 hospitals nationwide.
“Great care is only great if everyone can access it,” said Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute. “We need hospitals to be strong community partners—and Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals are at the top of our list showing the way.”
The Lown Hospitals Index for Social Responsibility is the only ranking to combine health equity metrics and value of care alongside patient outcomes, for more than 2,700 acute care and 800 critical access hospitals nationwide—offering a holistic view of hospitals as total community partners. In the fifth annual rankings, the 2024-25 Lown Index evaluates hospitals on over 50 measures including novel metrics such as community benefit, racial inclusivity, and avoidance of overuse. Data sources include Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage claims, CMS patient safety data and hospital cost reports, and IRS 990 forms. The full can be found on the Lown Index website.
The Lown Institute is an independent think tank advocating bold ideas for a just and caring system for health. Learn more at www.LownHospitalsIndex.org.
Recently, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center nurses attended the Sigma Theta Tau International Research Congress Sharing Insights, Advancing Care: Disseminating Nursing Research and Evidence for the Future in Singapore, Indonesia. Representing Jamaica Hospital was Sharon Wexler, PhD, RN, Nurse Scientist, Vik Singh, MS, RN, Director of Nursing, Annessa Madraymootoo-Ramdial, MSN, RN, Rohan Sumrah, MS, RN, Clinical Nurse Leaders, and Shiv Kumari Santram, MS, RN, Nurse Manager.
On July 26th, 2024, Jamaica Hospital held Schwartz Rounds on campus with 179 attendees. The Schwartz Rounds program offers healthcare providers a regularly scheduled time during their fast-paced work lives to openly and honestly discuss the social and emotional issues they face in caring for patients and families. In contrast to traditional medical rounds, the focus is on the human dimension of medicine. “As a first-time attendee, this experience has improved my insight into how patient care looks outside of the actual clinical care. I also have a better understanding as to how each staff member contributes to the care team”, said one attendee.
The MediSys Health Network of Jamaica Hospital and Flushing Hospital Medical Centers recently held its Third Annual Research Conference and Poster Competition. Sponsored by the Department of Research Education and Innovation and the Department of Clinical Research, the event allows the entire MediSys hospital community to present any scholarly activity they had done over the past academic year of 2023-2024.
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center is lending its support to Food Bank for New York City’s “Woman to Woman” initiative, which aims to provide menstrual and childcare products to women who live in poverty and struggle to afford these resources. The initiative also raises awareness about how poverty affects women’s ability to obtain these products.
The MediSys Health Network has been named as one of the top 10 hospital systems in the United States for fair share spending by the Lown Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes equity and transparency throughout the American healthcare system. MediSys was one of many hospital systems across the country included in the Lown Institute’s 2024-25 fair share analysis, which compared hospitals’ tax exemptions to their community spending.
Jamaica Hospital recently hosted its 2024 Annual Art Exhibit from March 4th to March 8th, showcasing a variety of creations from art therapy patients and faculty. Each year, the art exhibit displays a collection patient artwork from throughout the previous year. Some of the artwork featured this year included drawings, paintings, mixed media, and sculptures. The title for this year’s art exhibit was “A Space for Hope.”
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center has been named a winner in New York City Tipping Point Challenge. This year-long clinical training competition, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and sponsored by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) and the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, was established to help healthcare organizations improve the quality of services for people living with serious illnesses. Jamaica Hospital was one of five hospitals in New York City to win this competition.
On November 23, 2023, 152 staff members at Flushing Hospital Medical Center attended the first Schwartz Rounds event held since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel discussion included attending physicians, residents, nurses, and social workers, all of whom shared challenges they experienced with building trust and meeting family expectations in cases with unexpected outcomes.
Jamaica Hospital Nursing Home, along with six other New York nursing homes, participated in a partnership with the United Hospital Fund (UHF) to tackle the issue of polypharmacy, the practice of prescribing an excessively high number of medications to long-term care residents. The initiative aims to reduce health risks of overprescribing for residents through a process called “deprescribing,” or decreasing the usage of inappropriate or ineffective medications.