Workplace Safety at Orlando Health

Orlando Health is leading the charge among local hospitals when it comes to workplace safety. During this Healthcare Security & Safety week, Orlando Health is sharing some of the policies that have earned it strong workplace rankings from The Leapfrog Group, U.S. News & World Report and others.

The security and safety of patients and staff must be assured before any health care facility can effectively provide quality care to those it treats. That’s why Orlando Health focuses on “Embracing Quality and Safety” as one of our Strategic Imperatives. Orlando Health upholds a zero-tolerance policy for any act of violence, maintains robust mechanisms for reporting issues, and provides education sessions on violence-related topics.

Orlando Health believes in our duty to care for team members and physicians, so we offer classroom and online training on how to de-escalate potentially violent behaviors and how to react if an unexpected violent situation occurs. In a recent trust index survey completed by more than 2,000 randomly selected team members, 93 percent of those polled said that Orlando Health is a physically safe place to work.

Safety in the workplace starts with leadership recognizing and supporting the right of every team member, patient, physician, visitor and volunteer to personal safety. Every team member is given the right and the responsibility to report incidents of violence, physical and verbal abuse or intimidation to leadership, HR, and local law enforcement without reprisal. Privacy, appropriate evaluation and debriefing, injury care, and professional counseling are provided to all team members impacted by an act of violence within the workplace.

It’s not just team members who agree on the high level of safety at Orlando Health. The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit watchdog organization that collects and reports on hospital performance, has also weighed in. Orlando Health’s Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, Health Central Hospital, Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC), South Seminole Hospital and South Lake Hospital in affiliation with Orlando Health have all received “A” hospital safety grades by the Leapfrog Group.

Chief of Quality and Clinical Transformation Thomas Kelley, MD, explains, “In today’s rapidly changing healthcare climate, hospitals must decide where to prioritize their energy and resources. An “A” rating for every hospital in Orlando Health is a clear indication that we have invested heavily in the assurance of high-quality care and that we value the safety of our patients.”

Workplace and patient safety are integral keys to the success of any healthcare facility. Recently, the U.S. News & World Report rankings for 2018-2019 Best Hospitals were released. Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center was ranked as a “Best Hospital in Central Florida."

Keeping any workplace safe, especially a health care facility, is a task that requires full staff compliance and commitment to safe, quality care, and Orlando Health has been at it for more than one hundred years.