MHA Recognizes 2024 Compass Honor Winners

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Two Missouri hospitals have earned recognition for engaging their community to improve care and the patient experience. Harrison County Community Hospital in Bethany, Mo., and BJC HealthCare in St. Louis have received the Missouri Hospital Association’s 2024 Compass Honor. The award spotlights work by a hospital or health system’s Patient and Family Advisory Council and recognizes organizations with more or fewer than 100 beds. 

“Every hospital aspires to deliver the best possible care while creating an environment that supports healing,” said MHA President and CEO Jon D. Doolittle. “The science of care delivery advances constantly. However, to learn about the environment of care, hospitals rely heavily on input from patients, families and communities.”  

Hospitals establish Patient and Family Advisory Councils to understand how patients experience their care. These PFACs help hospitals identify opportunities for improvements in environment, where systems and processes complicate the health care experience, and how to foster better communication and engagement with patients.   

Harrison County Community Hospital received the Compass Honor for a hospital with fewer than 100 beds.  

Since the hospital PFAC’s initial meeting in January 2024, members have offered input on many initiatives such as renovating a waiting room, streamlining discharge paperwork, expanding community health fair offerings and improving accessibility options during registration. 

“Our Patient and Family Advisory Council is pivotal in transforming our acute appointment scheduling and waiting room experiences,” said Tara Sherer, CNA, PFAC Chair and Director of In-Home Services and Registration at Harrison County Community Hospital. “By prioritizing innovations like negative air systems, enhanced registration options for those who are hard of hearing and thoughtful accessibility measures, we’re not just improving logistics — we’re fostering an environment where every patient feels safe, heard and valued. Together, we’re redefining care for a healthier tomorrow.” 

Additionally, the council supported a telehealth grant, served as “secret shoppers” for infection control, assisted with tracking outpatient clinic wait times, offered autism resources, provided feedback for a new stroke support group and collaborated with the patient experience team to drive patient-centered improvements at HCCH. 

BJC HealthCare earned the Compass Honor as an organization with more than 100 beds.   

The health system’s Sickle Cell Patient, Family, Community Advisory Council has helped guide improved care coordination systems for BJC’s sickle cell disease patients. The council offered feedback on proposed workflows, accessibility of space and design of the Sickle Cell Treatment Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital — the first comprehensive adult treatment center for sickle cell disease in the St. Louis region.  

“The Sickle Cell Patient, Family, Community Advisory Council has served as an integral part of the development of improved care coordination for sickle cell patients throughout BJC,” said Winston Wright, Program Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at BJC HealthCare. “Six of the seven members of the council volunteered their time over the course of a year to meet with hospital executives, physicians and other staff to share their experiences. As solutions began to be identified, we formed the council so that the members could have a formal role in strategic planning and operationalization.” 

The council’s work has helped to normalize the needs of sickle cell patients at BJC, and the input that members offered have helped to begin closing gaps in care to this patient population.  

Two hospitals were named runners-up in the Compass Honor. Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare in Clinton, Mo., was named a runner-up for an organization with fewer than 100 beds, while North Kansas City Hospital was honored as an organization with more than 100 beds.  

In 2022, MHA introduced the Compass Honor, which is sponsored by the Statewide PFAC. To learn more about this annual recognition and read about previous Compass Honor recipients, visit MHA’s PFAC webpage. 

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Photo cutlines:

Receiving the award from HCCH were (from left to right):
Nikki Hendren, COO and Senior Leader on PFAC; Tara Sherer, HCCH PFAC Chair; and Lisa McGhee, Director of Quality and PFAC Member

Jessica Stultz, Director of Clinical Quality at the Missouri Hospital Association (left), presented the Compass Honor to: Winston Wright, Senior DEI Consultant; Alicia Gant, PFAC Advisor; Hope Bingham, Project Manager; and Emily Deters, Patient Experience Partner.