PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center receives ANCC Pathway to Excellence® designation for its nurses

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center made history by being named the first and only hospital and long-term care unit to achieve Pathway to Excellence® designation status at PeaceHealth and in Alaska, as announced recently by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Only 190 hospital organizations in the United States currently hold this designation.

The Pathway designation is a global credential that highlights PeaceHealth Ketchikan’s commitment to creating a healthy work environment where nurses feel empowered and valued.

PeaceHealth Ketchikan’s nurses are an integral part of the healthcare team, with a voice in policy and practice. Pathway nurses are engaged, resulting in higher job satisfaction, reduced turnover, improved safety, and better patient outcomes.

As a Pathway organization, PeaceHealth Ketchikan leads the effort to enhance quality of care, patient and nursing safety, and the future of healthcare delivery, says Hill Pettus, RN, MSN, vice president of Patient Care Services, chief nursing officer and long-term care administrator.

PeaceHealth Ketchikan began the process two years ago in efforts to achieve this distinction, powered by the dedication and vision of a team of nursing professionals and leaders in Ketchikan and from the PeaceHealth system office.

The Pathway designation applies to all 177 nurses at PeaceHealth Ketchikan in the medical center, long-term care unit and medical group for the next four years.

“PeaceHealth Ketchikan will continue to deliver on our Pathway Promise to create a healthy work environment where nurses excel and feel empowered as an integral part of the team,” says Pettus.

For more information on the Pathway to Excellence recognition program, visit ANCC’s website.

About PeaceHealth
PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a not-for-profit Catholic health system offering care to communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. PeaceHealth has approximately 16,000 caregivers, a group practice with more than 900 providers and 10 medical centers serving both urban and rural communities throughout the Northwest. In 1890, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace founded what has become PeaceHealth. The Sisters shared expertise and transferred wisdom from one medical center to another, always finding the best way to serve the unmet need for healthcare in their communities. Today, PeaceHealth is the legacy of the founding Sisters and continues with a spirit of respect, stewardship, collaboration and social justice in fulfilling its Mission. Visit us online at peacehealth.org.