Nursing & Rehab Center, Society Member, Wins First Ever Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Given in the Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation Field

Press Release
Long-Term Care, Post-Acute Care, Skilled Nursing Care, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Quality, Rehabilitation
November 21, 2016
Contact: 
Perry Gwen Meyers, pmeyers@paltc.org

Last week the U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker named the recipients of the 2016 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor for sustainable excellence through visionary leadership, organizational alignment, systemic improvement, and innovation. Among the winners was Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation Center – Mountain Valley, in Kellogg, ID.

Mountain Valley is the first winner ever from the long-term care and rehabilitation field. The facility is a 68-bed skilled nursing center providing short-term and long-term rehabilitation and skilled nursing services in a rural community in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Mountain Valley has achieved:

  • Seven consecutive years of five-star ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; less than 1 percent of the nation’s 15,600 skilled nursing facilities nationwide achieved the five-star rating over that period of time.
  • “Very” or “extremely” satisfied survey results from residents and family members since 2013 - above the national industry average by 20 percent for residents and by 10 percent for families.
  • A 90 percent employee retention rate - more than 20 percent above the national industry average.
  • And an occupancy rate of 89 to 90 percent from 2010 to 2016, exceeding national and state benchmarks.

Mountain Valley’s Medical Director and Society member Frederick R. Haller, MD, has served in his position for more than 25 years and has been admitting patients to the facility for more than 40 years. Kindred Healthcare is a corporate member of AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. “I was absolutely blown away when I heard the news,” he said. “The fact that this relatively small facility in an economically depressed rural mining community, in the middle of an Environmental Protection Agency super fund site, is being recognized is absolutely amazing. The staff is obviously committed to giving an exceptional level of care and deserve credit for their commitment.”

The U. S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) manages the Baldrige Award in cooperation with the private sector. An independent board of examiners recommended this year’s four Baldrige Award recipients from a field of 34 applicants after extensive evaluation. Society Executive Director Christopher Laxton, CAE, a Baldrige Examiner himself, is extremely proud of Mountain Valley’s achievement, as he is very familiar with the rigorous expectations that need to be met to be considered for the award. “On behalf of the Society, and myself personally, I am thrilled that one of our members’ facilities was the first to win a Baldrige Award in the long-term care category,” said Laxton. “The Society’s mission is grounded in delivering and improving the quality of care provided to patients and residents in post-acute and long-term care settings. This can only be done when leadership, staff teamwork, customer-centered care delivery processes, and clarity on the vision, values, and mission of the organization are in strong alignment. I offer the entire team at Mountain Valley my heartiest congratulations.”