Hemphill, Texas (February 20, 2019) – Sabine County Hospital was recognized last week with the 2018 TMF Gold Award for Hospital Quality Improvement. This regional award was given to only 51 of the 745 hospitals in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, that demonstrated improved performance on specific national quality measures. “We are honored to be recognized by the TMF Quality Institute for both reporting quality measures and improving patient outcomes as reflected by these data,” said Jerry Howell, hospital administrator, “but the benefit to our patients is the true reward.” “Our staff, led by Mareike Gay, our chief nursing officer until last November, work hard to systematically identify and act upon opportunities for quality improvement.” Howell reported. “I am proud of each of our staff members for their continued commitment to quality initiatives.” Gay, who still works at the hospital as a staff nurse, is quick to acknowledge the impact of all of the nursing staff on quality improvement at the hospital, including her replacement as CNO, Brittany Henson, RN. “We all work together as a team to identify and address opportunities for improvement,” said Gay. “I also want to thank the support team we have at Preferred Management Corporation,” added Gay. “Kathy Mechler provides clinical leadership to all Preferred- affiliated hospitals and helped us to establish the framework for our quality program, Laura Crowell makes sure that we can extract needed data from our electronic medical records, and Megan Cody drives us to report our quality measures to various agencies,” Gay explained. “TMF is proud to recognize hospitals for promoting quality improvement activities and their senior management for promoting a quality culture,” said Tom Manley, CEO of TMF Health Quality Institute. “Quality improvement is a complex and demanding process, and we thank Sabine County Hospital for their commitment to improving the health of patients and the efficiency of health care.” The TMF Hospital Quality Improvement Award program is sponsored by TMF, the Arkansas Hospital Association, Oklahoma Hospital Association, Oklahoma State Office of Rural Health, Texas Hospital Association and Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals. There are three award categories: Gold is the highest tier, and has the most stringent requirements, followed by Silver and then Bronze. Seven of the nine hospitals affiliated with Preferred were recognized by TMF in 2018, with five Gold Awards, one Silver Award and one Bronze Award. “Maintaining and improving access to quality patient care in our small communities is the primary goal of Preferred,” stated Andy Freeman, president and chief executive officer of Preferred. “We have invested in the resources necessary to support the efforts of our hospitals to achieve this goal, and I could not be prouder of the staff at the home office and in our hospitals for their hard work.”