Hazelden received the award for a quality improvement project that decreased adverse drug events (ADEs) by 72 percent on its Center City campus. The process improvement has been implemented at all Hazelden residential facilities. ADEs, often called "medication errors," are a concern to health care organizations nationwide, so this successful Hazelden project has received widespread attention. It has been featured in journals of the Joint Commission four times and was one of four "best of the best" improvement projects presented at an Institute for Healthcare Improvement National Forum in 2002. In June, it was featured in Behavioral Healthcare magazine.

Medication errors often go unreported, because caregivers have perceived the problem as a performance issue and hesitate to report them. At Hazelden, changing the attitude of staff from one of blame to one of learning created a shift in the culture that made it possible to reduce ADEs.

Chris Lind, Certified Addictions Registered Nurse, project owner and executive director of Medical and Health Services, initiated the project on the Center City campus in 1997. She and Jon Zeipen, manager of Patient Safety and Security, accepted the award for Hazelden. "The entire Center City nursing and pharmacy staffs were instrumental in helping to achieve the goals for this project," said Zeipen.

Published Summer 2008, The Voice