Mendota Community Hospital has been selected to participate in the Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safe Transitions) Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Program, coordinated by the Illinois Hospital Association’s Quality Care Institute and supported by the Society of Hospital Medicine.  MCH joins 21 Illinois CAHs and more than 107 hospitals nationwide participating in Project BOOST.

“Through our participation in Project BOOST we have resources available to us that will help provide a safer hospital discharge for our patients.  The focus is on identifying patients who are at risk for being readmitted to the hospital and doing a better job of preparing them before the day of discharge.  That includes educating the patients on their medications and connecting them with the appropriate resources, and then following up with them by phone once they are home.”

“Project BOOST is a targeted program to enhance the quality of the hospital discharge process that will reduce readmissions and health care costs,” said Mark Williams, MD, FACP, FHM, Professor & Chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine at Northwestern and Principal Investigator for Project BOOST.  “The Society of Hospital Medicine is excited to be working with Illinois’ health care leaders to improve patient care and transform health care.”

MCH’s participation in Project BOOST was made possible through the Preventing Readmissions through Effective Partnerships (PREP) program, a landmark quality initiative of the Illinois Hospital Association’s Quality Care Institute and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) to significantly reduce avoidable readmissions in hospitals across the state.