CMH earns Planetree Gold recertification
Contact: Sarah Bello
Second consecutive gold certification for the hospital
CMH is pleased to announce that after an extensive application review and site visit in January, Planetree has recertified the hospital as a Planetree gold organization.
The gold certification is the highest level of achievement and recognizes CMH’s commitment to excellence in evidence-based, person-centered care. There are 174 organizations internationally who have achieved Planetree certification at the bronze, silver and gold levels. CMH is one of 96 to achieve gold status and the only Oregon facility to earn the accolade. It is one of six organizations worldwide to be certified four or more times.
“I’ve been through several site visits with Planetree representatives during my time as a leader at CMH,” says Erik Thorsen, CEO. “This year, we received the best results in all our years working with Planetree. This validates for us that we are truly living Planetree, and we do have a person-centered culture here.”
Person-centered health care prioritizes the active participation of patients and their families throughout the health care process, with an emphasis on partnership, compassion, transparency, inclusion and quality.
During the site visit, Planetree representatives held focus groups and rounded in the hospital to speak with more than 115 caregivers, patients, family members, providers and leadership. Kristen Moss, CMH Patient Experience manager, facilitated the visit along with her team and completed the substantial written application. After the application portion was evaluated in late 2022, provisional scoring was 159.5 out of 160, nearly 100%, signifying that CMH is striving to meet all criteria required for this certification.
“Achieving Planetree gold certification is a team effort,” Thorsen says. “We are thankful for all who took part in this year’s Planetree survey, but especially grateful for Kristen’s significant efforts on behalf of the hospital.”
Some things the Planetree representatives mentioned hearing during their visit to CMH include:
“I’ve done a lot of patient transports over the years, and when you tell a patient we are coming to CMH, you can see the relief on their face. There is so much gratitude to come here.”
“I’ve been in health care for 35 years, and I think that this leadership team are some of the best people I have ever worked with. They give you the empowerment to do your job well and celebrate your ideas.”
“I love that it’s a small hospital, there is a feeling of community. To me I think it is just a good feeling when you come here, they take care of you, include you, collaborate with you. Overall, we have had really good experiences here.”
This is CMH’s fourth time certifying as a Planetree organization and second consecutive gold certification from Planetree (the gold/silver/bronze levels were implemented in 2019), with the next review period occurring in 2026.
Planetree was founded in 1978 by a patient in San Francisco. Today, the Planetree member network is a global community of hospitals, continuing care facilities, outpatient clinics, and consumer health libraries dedicated to providing person-centered care. The Planetree model has been implemented in a variety of settings, ranging from small, rural hospitals to large urban medical centers.
Learn more about Planetree at https://planetree.org/.