The Michigan Health & Hospital Association Keystone Center a Dragan Spremo at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital with the quarterly MHA Keystone Center Speak-up! Award on Oct 23.
The MHA Keystone Center Speak-up! Award celebrates individuals or teams in Michigan hospitals demonstrating a commitment to the prevention of patient or staff harm. Spremo is the second member of C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital to receive this recognition.
Spremo is honored for speaking up after noticing a foreign metallic object during a post-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of a patient’s hip. The pre-screening for metallic implants was negative, but Spremo noticed the foreign object in the patient’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract while reviewing the area intentionally imaged. The nominee immediately halted the scan and requested an X-ray be ordered, which confirmed metallic objects in the patient’s GI tract. Spremo’s swift action prevented delayed diagnosis and further GI tract damage.
“I’m truly honored to have received the MHA Keystone Center Speak-up! Award, and I want to express my gratitude to the entire team for their support and dedication,” said Spremo. “It’s a testament to the incredible work we do here at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Michigan Medicine as a whole, in ensuring the safety and quality care of our little patients.”
Launched in March 2016, the MHA Keystone Center Speak-up! Award promotes a culture within healthcare organizations empowering staff to speak up about the quality or safety of patient care to foster continuous improvement and minimize institutional risk for both patients and providers.
“Safety is our top priority at Mott and it’s exemplary team members like Dragan that ensure our patients are kept safe and receive our highest quality of care each and every day,” said Luanne Thomas Ewald, MHA, FACHE, chief operating officer, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital. “We’re so proud of Dragan for receiving this honor, speaking up for safety and role modeling our high reliability behaviors.”
Additional award finalists for the third quarter of 2023 include:
- Socheat Chau and Julie Ketai, Trinity Health IHA Medical Group.
- Laura Elders, University of Michigan Health-West.
- Kevin Costa, Trinity Health Livonia.
“Dragan’s actions are a perfect representation of how diligent healthcare workers save lives,” said MHA CEO Brian Peters. “It was a privilege to celebrate Dragan and recognize C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital for its ongoing commitment to upholding a safety culture.”
More information about the MHA Keystone Center Speak-up! Award, including criteria and a nomination form, are available on the MHA Keystone Center Speak-up! Award webpage.