Patient Safety

Protecting Our Patients

We take great steps toward preventing medical errors and making the hospital as safe as possible for our patients by implementing The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goals. We are also working with statewide organizations to ensure and improve patient safety.

Pilot Program to Avoid Operating Room Errors

We are part of a voluntary statewide pilot program to bring surgical checklists into every operating room. Every member of the surgical team goes through a checklist before, during and after every operation.

Working to Eliminate Hospital-Acquired Infections

We are working to wipe out infections that people acquire when they are in the hospital. To reduce these infections, we are sharing our data with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) 

Patient Safety Tips

Your Safety Is Important to Us. You can help prevent medical errors and keep yourself and your family safe. Speak Up to Prevent Errors in Your Care.

What you can do to help us help you:

• Share your health history with your caregiver (doctor, nurse, or aide). This includes the medications you take, any operations you've had or any allergies you may have. The more your caregiver knows, the more successful your care plan and recovery will be.
• Don't recognize a medication? Ask the caregiver to check it before you accept it.
• Don't understand something about your care? If you have questions or concerns about your condition or treatment options, please be sure to ask.
• Help reduce the risk of infection. Remind caregivers to wash their hands before they care for you. Wash your own hands and keep any wounds clean and dry.

“Understanding Your Caregivers” promotes health literacy

Complex forms, medication instructions and the range of medical professionals who provide care -- occasionally with medical jargon -- can be confusing. If you don't understand, ask questions. The consequences of misunderstanding can be life threatening for you. We encourage you to speak up.

Have a concern about safety or quality of care? Please let us know.

Helpful Links

• Video: Dr. Atul Gawande of the Harvard School of Public Health speaks about the effort to avoid operating room errors
• Download the Joint Commission’s “Understanding your Caregivers”. Also available in Spanish.
• Five steps to safer healthcare
• 20 tips to help prevent medical errors
• 20 tips to help prevent medical errors in children
• Ways you can help your family prevent medical errors
• Patient rights and responsibilities