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The United States is home to thousands of hospital systems – but only two dozen of them have been honored with the prestigious “Magnet with Distinction” award.
Presented by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), “Magnet with Distinction” is the highest honor awarded by the organization’s Magnet program – which honors hospitals that “truly value nursing talent.”
“Magnet Recognition is not merely an award or a badge of honor,” the organization noted. “It is steadfast proof of a hard-earned commitment to excellence in health care, with contented nurses at its heart.”
“To patients, it means the very best care, delivered by nurses who are supported to be the very best that they can be,” the ANCC added.
The Magnet with Distinction designation is reserved for those hospital systems which go above and beyond even that lofty standard – achieving “an elite level of performance” related to patient care and outcomes.
“Magnet with Distinction celebrates hospitals and healthcare organizations that exceed the scoring thresholds required to attain Magnet designation,” the Maryland-based center noted. “It raises the bar to recognize top-tier organizations that have achieved the highest level of nursing excellence while addressing emerging challenges and changes in health care moving forward.”
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One of the organizations which has earned this coveted “top-tier” honor is Lexington Medical Center – an award-winning health care system based in the Midlands region of South Carolina. Lexington Medical Center was the first South Carolina hospital system – and only the thirteenth health care organization in the entire nation – to meet the rigorous criteria established by ANCC for Magnet with Distinction recognition.
As of this publication, Lexington Medical remains one of only two Palmetto State health care systems to have been awarded this honor – and the only one located in the Midlands.
“Achieving Magnet with Distinction recognizes the exemplary care that our nurses provide to our friends, families and neighbors every day,” hospital president and CEO Tod Augsburger noted. “This honor places Lexington Medical Center among the highest performing Magnet organizations in the world.”
“Lexington Medical Center is proud to achieve Magnet with Distinction recognition, and it shows our culture of excellence that we serve our community with daily,” said Melissa Taylor, Lexington Medical’s Chief Nursing Officer. “This status shows Lexington Medical Center’s commitment to excellent quality outcomes, an outstanding nursing staff, and our mission to provide the Midlands with quality health services that meet the needs of our communities.”
Lexington Medical Center’s quality coordinator Stephanie Davis helped lead the organization’s Magnet efforts. She sat down with me recently to discuss that process – and what the honor means for Lexington Medical Center (and its nurses and patients).
“We knew that we had something special here at Lexington Medical but it’s very meaningful to have an outside group recognize that what we are doing is working – and that we are committed to excellence in everything we do,” Davis said. “We proved it – and so we’re very excited and honored by that.”
“It is our culture,” Davis added, referring to the level of care recognized by the Magnet with Distinction award. “It’s how we take care of our patients and our people.”
In addition to its prestigious Magnet with Distinction honor, FITSNews has previously reported on Lexington Medical Center’s ongoing efforts to help the entire state of South Carolina address its nursing shortage via an innovative partnership with the Palmetto State’s flagship institution of higher learning. Last summer, the hospital system joined the University of South Carolina nursing school to launch a new, state-of-the-art, 52,000-square-foot facility to “train the next generation of nurses” – and to help them better prepare “to transition into practice.”
Located on the hospital’s West Columbia, S.C. campus, the new satellite clinical education facility is used primarily for “clinical training of the university’s third- and fourth-year nursing bachelor’s students as well as master’s program students,” according to the hospital.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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