It is with great honor that we announce that HHS’ environmental services (EVS) team at John Peter Smith Hospital (JPS) in Fort Worth, Texas was named Environmental Service Department of the Year by the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE).  The nationally recognized award honors the top EVS departments from three different categories, based off hospital size, for their significant contributions to overall patient experience and outstanding representation of their healthcare facility’s mission. The EVS department at JPS received the the recognition in the 250-500 bed category.  

HHS COO, Bobby Floyd, proudly reflects on the accomplishment, “The AHE EVS Department of the Year Award is a great honor for both HHS and our partners throughout the JPS Health Network. We are very proud of our team and appreciative of the recognition from Health Facilities Management.”

From the article JPS Credits Environmental Services Department Success with Teamwork by Health Facilities Management Magazine:

Collaboration is key. This includes a fully integrated partnership with Austin, Texas-based health facility service company HHS, which provides environmental services at the JPS hospital. As Bedford notes, facilities that outsource environmental services work often maintain a clear separation between the hospital and the service provider. This isn’t the case at JPS.

HHS personnel have a seat at the table as part of the health network’s interdepartmental teams, and are included in the annual JPS team member performance-incentive program and all JPS team member recognition activities. In 2016, for example, housekeeper Alice Borja received the John Peter Smith Excellence Award, the highest honor bestowed by the health network. JPS and HHS executives conduct joint monthly leadership meetings and an annual business performance review.

As far as patients are concerned, there’s no distinction between hospital staff and HHS staff. “They only see the JPS [environmental services] department,” Bedford says. According to Bedford, this type of teamwork accounts for a recent improvement in JPS’s HCAHPS scores. Between 2015 and 2016, the health network rose from the 19th percentile (a top box score of 68.5) to the 41st percentile (a top box score of 71.6) for patient satisfaction with room cleanliness.

To read the full article by Health Facilities Management Magazine and learn more about the partnership between HHS and JPS, click here.