Sept. 10, 2013

VCU Medical Center earns Beacon Award of Excellence for Acute Care Surgery

Share this story

By Cassie Williams Jones

Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center’s Acute Care Surgery unit has earned the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Beacon Award for Excellence.  

The national three-year award recognizes individual units that distinguish themselves by improving every facet of patient care. This highly regarded award is a significant achievement for a hospital unit and signifies a commitment to patient safety and satisfaction. The Acute Care Surgery unit, which is housed in the VCU Medical Center’s Department of Surgery in the Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Emergency General Surgery, was a gold-level recipient, representing excellent and sustained unit performance and patient outcomes.

“This award is a testament to the skills and compassion of our care team, especially our exceptional nurses,” said Mark Levy, M.D., professor and chair of vascular surgery in the VCU Department of Surgery. “Acute care surgery is demanding and many times urgent and having a responsive, dedicated team of individuals you can trust and rely on is critical.”

The Acute Care Surgery unit underwent an application process to satisfy the AACN’s standards, which focus on excellence in leadership structures and systems, appropriate staffing and staff engagement, effective communication, knowledge of management and best practices, evidence-based practice and processes, and patient outcomes.

This is the fourth Beacon award this year for VCU Medical Center. Other 2013 awardees include the Hume-Lee Transplant Center, the Medical Psychiatry program and the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.

The VCU Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Emergency General Surgery is a Level I trauma center, according to the American College of Surgeons, making it one of only two nationally recognized trauma centers in Virginia. VCU Medical Center offers 24-hour, on-site surgical staff, dedicated operating room space and round-the-clock access to laboratory services and subspecialties including cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, anesthesiology and radiology.