Mercy Health Partners Primary Care Network Receives
2006 Governor’s Award of Excellence

Award Honors Commitment to Excellence in the Ambulatory Care Setting

Muskegon MI, June 4, 2007 — All seven Mercy Health Partners Primary Care Network Offices (PCN) have received MPRO’s prestigious 2006 Governor’s Award of Excellence for Improving Care in the Ambulatory Care Setting. This is the third year in a row that all PCN offices at Mercy General have received this award. Sponsored by Michigan Peer Review Organization (MPRO), Michigan’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, the award promotes quality improvement initiatives in the physician office setting that enhance the quality of care received by Medicare beneficiaries.  There are 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries in Michigan.

“Recipients of this award are committed to providing Michigan citizens with high quality health care services,” said Governor Jennifer Granholm.  The Governor added, “Together we will continue to improve the long term health of citizens by focusing on strategies to protect public health.”

Award criterion aligns with the Physician Office Quality Improvement Program including the Doctor’s Office Quality-Information Technology (DOQ-IT). The DOQ-IT project promotes the adoption of electronic health record systems in small-to-medium sized physician offices. The clinical topics addressed by the Governor’s Award have been designated as national health care priorities by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  Clinical areas of focus are individually selected from one of the following areas: preventive care, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, or cancer screening. Mercy Health Partners Primary Care Network selected screening for breast and colon cancer as the clinical improvement initiative in 2006.

The award honors the following offices and physicians for their commitment to continuously improve preventive services in this clinical area.

Harbour Pointe Medical Associates

• Irma Parra, MD
• Thomas Kaye, MD
• Marie Ritchard, NP

Kinney and Parrett

• Jason Kinney, DO
• Diane Parrett, DO
• Dee Six, NP
  

Geriatric Medical Associates

• Ronald Rop, MD
• Douglas Hall, MD
• Cynthia Ochs, DO
• Brian Quinn, DO
• Michelle Lee, FNP
• Daniel Caldwell, PA-C
  

Mercy Westshore Internal Medicine

• Don Campbell, MD
• James Grace, MD
• Hernan Guiang, MD
• Marcela Novakosky, MD
• Paul Taylor, MD
• Ken Ye, MD

Northshore Family Medicine

• Shelley Anderson, MD
• Anthony Izokaitis, DO
• Darrell Roelandt, DO
• Sandra Blanchard, MD

Westshore Family Medicine

• Michael Banka, MD
• Kristen Brown, MD
• Brian Burdo, MD
• Joel Jarvis, MD
• Elaine Schmidt, MD
• Carol Southland, MD
• Chad Uptigrove, DO
• Katherine Young, MD
• Steve Westerhof, PA-C
  

White Lake Family Practice

• Michael Schaub, MD
• Jacob Sauve, PA-C
  

“As Michigan’s QIO, MPRO is privileged to recognize physicians’ offices such as Mercy Health Partners Primary Care Network, for embracing quality improvement initiatives,” said Debra Moss, MD, MBA, president and CEO of MPRO.  Dr. Moss added “The Governor’s Award of Excellence is a seal of quality that denotes a commitment to excellence in the delivery of high quality care.”

“Our staff worked as a team to develop strategies to achieve notable improvement.  Together, we are demonstrating that Mercy Health Partners Primary Care Network is continuously working to improve the care we deliver to our patients.  Our efforts have been enhanced through our collaborations with MPRO and we are proud to be a recipient of this distinguished honor,” said Chris Ammon, CPHQ, Mercy Health Partners PCN Quality Manager.

This past spring, an eighth office of the PCN was opened to better serve Northern Ottawa County.  Lakeshore Family Care located at 17325 Van Wagoner Road, Spring Lake has two full time physicians and a part time nurse practitioner on staff.  Dr. Gregory Stempky, Dr. Timothy Kval and Dee Six, NP are committed to brining quality healthcare to the community.

To learn more about Mercy Health Partners Primary Care Network visit our Web site at www.MHP.com.