The University of Vermont Medical Center was one of nine cystic fibrosis (CF) care centers in the U.S. to receive a 2013-2014 Cystic Fibrosis Quality Care Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The honoree institutions were recognized at the 28th annual North American Conference held in Atlanta, Ga., in October.

Pulmonologist Thomas Lahiri, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at the UVM College of Medicine, directs the Vermont CF Center at The UVM Medical Center and also serves as director of the Center’s Pediatric Program. Laurie Leclair, M.D., an associate professor of medicine and pulmonologist, directs the Adult CF Program.

The award recognizes outstanding service to people with CF and their families and is presented to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation-accredited care centers that have continuously demonstrated a commitment to improving the quality of care they provide. In addition to The UVM Medical Center, 2013-14 awardees include: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.; Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University Medical Center (Pediatric Program), Indianapolis, Ind.; University of Michigan Health System (Pediatric Program), Ann Arbor, Mich.; University of Iowa (Pediatric Program), Iowa City, Iowa; Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center (Pediatric Program), St. Louis, Mo.; Children’s Hospital St. Louis (Pediatric Program), St. Louis, Mo.; University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital (Pediatric Program), Memphis, Tenn.; University of Virginia (Adult Program), Charlottesville, Va.

“I am honored to present this award to so many exceptional care centers from across the country,” said Bruce C. Marshall, M.D., senior vice president for clinical affairs at the CF Foundation. “Because of the commitment of so many dedicated professionals, people with cystic fibrosis are living longer, breathing easier and achieving their dreams like never before.”

About the Quality Care Awards
The CF Foundation instituted the Quality Care Awards in 2008. Recipients of this year’s awards were chosen by the CF Foundation Center Committee from the care centers visited during fall 2013 and spring 2014. Centers that received the honor excelled at meeting the following quality improvement performance standards:

• Actively uses clinical outcomes data to identify opportunities for improvement and documents results of improvement efforts.
• Aligns improvement efforts to result in measurable improvement in important clinical outcomes.
• Consistently and actively involves patients and families in identifying, designing and/or implementing improvement efforts.
• Employs innovative strategies to improve care processes and outcomes.
• Implements system changes that result in high reliability of care processes.

 (This article was adapted from a news release produced by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.)