As part of Care Experience Week in May, a brief cupcake-filled reception honored those who earned our fifth Press Ganey Pinnacle of Excellence Award in Patient Experience. Earning, for five years in a row, an award that cumulates 3 years of data, means patients have placed Dartmouth Cancer Center in the top 5 percent of healthcare providers nationwide since 2017. DCC is one of four NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers to earn this national honor for five consecutive years.
The event began with System Vice President for Care Experience, Brant Oliver, presenting the Pinnacle trophy to a group of representative employees, including clinical research coordinator, radiation oncology therapists and nurses, medical oncology nurses, and receptionists – the first faces our patients see when they come to the Cancer Center.
System Vice President of Oncology Services, Deb Scribner, extended appreciation for the work of DCC employees, sharing that it is the totality of interactions that make such a difference – from the first point of contact, to how patients experience the waiting areas, to their actual care and post-treatment follow up and all of the moments in-between. “It is our full team of employees who help make the patient journey a pinnacle one,” she says.
Director of DCC, Steven Leach, MD, who was on vacation during the event, video-recorded a message of celebration and appreciation stating, “This is the rarest of air and I want to express how deeply grateful I am to each and every one of you and how proud I am of all of you…for making a difference in the lives of our patients!”
The event also celebrated the work our providers do in fostering excellent care for our patients by recognizing those Cancer Center providers who received a satisfaction rating of 90 percent or better on the Press Ganey provider survey. Nearly 450 providers across the Dartmouth Health system earned an excellent rating of 90 percent or better on the patient survey. DCC Deputy Director Linda Vahdat, MD, presented certificates of appreciation to those providers at Dartmouth Cancer Center.
As a representative feature, Julia Boger-Hawkins, Program Manager of Healing Harvest shared how DCC’s food pantry helps patients when just getting a healthy meal is an overwhelming endeavor. Every step we take to care for our neighbors matters.
