The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) today announced that two of its facilities, Coney Island Hospital and Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, have been named by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) as Surgical Safety Checklist Mentor Hospitals that will help guide other healthcare providers to improve communication, prevent errors and make surgery safer. The HHC hospitals were two of only eight hospitals in the country to be designated mentors for their leadership and success in adopting the World Health Organization's (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist.

"Mentor hospitals were chosen for their demonstrable success with implementation of the checklist and their willingness and ability to provide support, clinical expertise and advice to hospitals seeking help," said HHC President Alan D. Aviles. "We're proud that these two HHC hospitals and their involved staff are at the forefront of national leadership in promoting this important patient safety measure."

Coney Island and Lincoln Hospitals were among the first of 11 New York City public hospitals to adopt the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, becoming the first hospital system in New York City to do so in September 2008. Before surgery, HHC's 220 surgeons, who perform approximately 87,000 surgeries each year, as well as other members of the surgical teams, verbally confirm and document more than a dozen safety standards, including noting the patient's blood type and allergies to drugs; ensuring beta blockers were given to heart patients prior surgery; screening to prevent deep vein thrombosis after surgery; and accounting for all surgical instruments. After the surgery is completed, the surgeon, anesthesiologist and the nurses must sign the checklist.

The Institute has developed the network of mentor hospitals to support and expand this initiative across the country. Healthcare organizations throughout the U.S. and around the world have hailed use of the list. Health care professionals interested in contacting mentor hospitals for assistance can find a hospital near them by going to the Institute's website at IHI.org.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the largest municipal hospital and health care system in the country, is a $5.4 billion public benefit corporation that serves 1.3 million New Yorkers every year, nearly 450,000 of whom are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 80 community based health centers. For more information about HHC, visit nyc.gov/hhc.

Click here to learn more about HHC's surgical safety program.