2008

Award Recipient

Poudre Valley Health System

Poudre Valley Health System (PVHS) is a locally owned 

and private, not-for-profit health care organization serving 

residents of northern Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. 

In two acute care hospitals and a network of other facilities, 

PVHS offers a full spectrum of health care services, including 

emergency/urgent, intensive, medical/surgical, maternal/

child, oncology, and orthopedic care. Founded in 1925 as 

the Poudre Valley Hospital (PVH) in Fort Collins, Colo., 

the hospital expanded and diversified its services during its 

Baldrige journey. It has become PVHS—a regional medical 

hub with a service area covering 50,000 square miles. The 

focus areas of PVHS services include (1) Colorado’s third 

largest cardiac center; (2) the only Level IIIa neonatal 

intensive care unit between Denver and Billings, Mont.; (3) 

Level II and III trauma centers; and (4) a Bariatric Surgery 

Center of Excellence.

A Healthy Dose of Quality Care 

The system’s mission is to remain independent while 

providing innovative, comprehensive care of the highest 

quality, and exceeding customer expectations. Its vision is to 

provide world-class health care. PVHS has received external 

verification of progress toward achieving its vision and goal. 

For example:

	 •	In 2007 and 2008, PVH was recognized as the nation’s

number one hospital for sustained nursing excellence by the 

American Nurses Association and the National Database of 

Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI).

	 •	In RN hours per patient day, PVH has exceeded the

NDNQI best quartile since 2005 and outperformed the 

American Nurses Credentialing Center’s “Magnet” hospitals’ 

90th percentile in 2008.

	 •	For five consecutive years, PVH has been one of seven

U.S. hospitals to be named a Thomson 100 Top Hospital 

(for superior outcomes, patient safety, and operational and 

financial performance).

	 •	PVH and Medical Center of the Rockies (MCR) patient

satisfaction scores surpass the national top 10 percent, 

according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

	 •	In 2008, PVHS received the Peak Performance Award—

Colorado’s highest award for performance excellence—

making it the only organization to receive this honor twice.

Prescription for Performance 

Excellence 

The Global Path to Success (GPS) is the performance 

improvement system and framework by which senior 

managers and staff integrate key processes. Strategic 

objectives provide areas of attention by which PVHS works 

to achieve its vision. For example, PVHS is planning a new 

cancer center to “strengthen and expand the PVHS market 

position and service portfolio.” 

National Institute of Standards and Technology • U.S. Department of Commerce

Baldrige National Quality Program

Highlights

•	 Modern Healthcare magazine named PVHS as one of 

“America’s 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare” in 2008.

•	 For the past five years, PVHS has been on the Hospitals & 

Health Networks list of the “100 Most Wired Hospitals and 

Health Systems” and the Information Week list of the “Top 

500 Information Technology Innovators.”

•	 After first establishing relationships with physicians, PVHS

expanded its partner base to include entities such as home 

health agencies, a long-term care provider, community health 

organizations, and a health plan administrator—a partnership 

that saves local employers $5 million each year.

•	 A free community case management program, which pairs

advanced-practice nurses and social workers with high-risk, 

chronically ill patients, decreased emergency department 

visits for these patients by 50 percent annually and resulted in 

more than $850,000 savings in each of the past three years.
In an innovative electronic Balanced Scorecard system, 

users can gauge progress on key measures relative to strategic 

objectives. If key performance measures are blue or green, 

PVHS is on track to accomplish the corresponding objectives. 

If key measures are yellow or red, an action plan—monitored 

by the appropriate senior manager—is developed to remedy 

the situation. 

PVHS designs new services using the Voice-of-theCustomer (VOC) approach. During the planning of the 

system’s newest hospital, MCR, community VOC data led to 

improved emergency room layout, private patient rooms with 

spectacular mountain views and windows that open, healing 

gardens, and installation of family amenities such as showers 

and kitchens. 

Addressing its strategic challenges, PVHS is focusing on 

four core competencies: 

Partnering relationships help PVHS focus on the future 

and turn competitors into allies. After first establishing 

relationships with physicians, PVHS expanded its partner base 

to include entities such as home health agencies, a long-term 

care provider, community health organizations, and a health 

plan administrator—a partnership that saves local employers 

$5 million each year. A partnership with a community hospital 

in Scottsbluff, Neb., led to the building of MCR, which 

opened in February 2007.

Senior leaders have built a culture that encourages high 

performance and satisfaction by engaging the workforce of 

4,200 staff, 550 credentialed physicians, and 800 volunteers. 

Communication begins with new employee orientation 

and continues with an open-door policy, a variety of 

paths for development, and many sharing opportunities. 

From design of new services to bedside care, PVHS uses 

interdisciplinary teams to meet patient needs. For example, 

a trauma resuscitation team of physicians, nurses, respiratory 

therapists, and radiology technologists is on call 24/7, and an

interdisciplinary care team led by a trauma surgeon makes 

daily rounds to see trauma patients. These teams demonstrate 

“the best collaboration of nurses and doctors, relative to any 

trauma program in the United States,” according to a recent 

survey team by the American College of Surgeons. In 2008, 

the system’s overall staff voluntary turnover rate decreased 

to 8 percent, well below that of competitors, and reached the 

Healthcare Human Resources Administration’s top 10 percent 

performance level. The system’s overall employee satisfaction 

ranks at the 97th percentile nationally, and Modern Healthcare

magazine named PVHS as one of “America’s 100 Best Places 

to Work in Healthcare” in 2008. 

PVHS’s partners are driving innovation by designing and 

testing innovative systems and technologies to meet health 

care needs. For example, PVHS was among the first health 

systems in the nation to use a robotic-assisted surgery system 

in four medical specialty areas and among the first 24 health 

systems in the world to integrate medical imaging systems 

across service lines. The Meditech Information System is a 

secure, user-friendly electronic network that ensures the flow 

of accurate, real-time information across the organization. To 

promote optimal patient experiences, PVHS uses the GetWell 

Network—an in-room, interactive patient education program 

that allows patients to obtain information about their care 

team, access the Internet and e-mail, communicate complaints

and compliments, and order on-demand movies. For the past 

five years, PVHS has been on the Hospitals & Health Networks

list of the “100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems” 

and the Information Week list of the “Top 500 Information 

Technology Innovators.” 

By ensuring financial stability, PVHS maintains its 

independence and builds a solid economic foundation to 

secure the future. The system’s financial results are significant 

in an environment in which reimbursement for health care is 

being tightened and costs for care delivery are increasing. 

For example:

	 •	MCR, the largest capital project for PVHS, opened on

time and on budget, and started positive cash flow well ahead 

of schedule.

	 •	In 2006, the average PVHS charge was $2,000 lower

than that of its main competitor and $7,000 lower than the

Denver metropolitan rate.

	 •	At 62.3 percent, market share in the system’s primary

service area is 42 percent higher than that of the closest 

competitor. 

	 •	Equity earnings from joint ventures increased more than

threefold from 2004 to 2007, to $7 million.

Caring for the Community As Well

With a not-for-profit mission, PVHS develops and 

implements services that address community health needs, 

such as:

	 •	a well-workplace initiative with area employers;

	 •	screening and prevention programs for heart disease

and prenatal issues (such as low birth weight); 

	 •	an injury prevention program for seniors; and

	 •	a Safe Kids Coalition program.

A free community case management program, which pairs 

advanced-practice nurses and social workers with high-risk, 

chronically ill patients, has decreased emergency department 

visits for these patients by 50 percent annually and resulted in 

more than $850,000 savings for each of the past three years. 

PVHS also improves health care access in rural communities 

through activities such as establishing specialty clinics, 

providing low-cost medical equipment, and creating a family 

medicine residency program to place physicians in medically 

underserved areas. A telehealth program enables remote 

specialty consultations and continuing medical education for 

rural health care providers. 

Giving back to the community also means environmental 

stewardship. The 2006 international U.S. Green Building

Council conference featured MCR, which implemented 

numerous innovative “green” concepts and recycled 79

percent of construction waste.

For more information:

Performance Excellence 

Poudre Valley Health System

2315 East Harmony Rd., Suite 200

Fort Collins, Colo. 80528

	 Telephone: (970) 237-7132	

	 Fax: (970) 237-7094

E-mail: baldrige@pvhs.org

Web site: http://www.pvhs.org