New Saint Joseph PEC chair eyes HAPIs

In February of this year, Gabe Lockhart, MD, Pulmonary Disease, took his seat as chair of the Saint Joseph Hospital Performance Excellence Committee, after seven years of widely regarded excellence in leadership by former chair Carrie Horn, MD, Internal Medicine.

Lockhart had been serving on the committee for two years when Horn approached him to take over.

“Carrie is a jack-of-all-trades, one of our most-respected clinicians and a role model among staff,” said Lockhart. “I’m inspired by the opportunity to follow in her footsteps.”

As the ICU director for National Jewish Health at Saint Joseph, Lockhart’s leadership in quality initiatives and success in achieving results already is well known. He joined the medical staff in 2019 and during his short tenure has transformed the hospital’s process for utilizing central lines. Once identified as an urgent opportunity for improvement, a better process and frequent audits has lowered the hospital’s CLABSI rate to the point that it’s elevated Saint Joseph to among the best in the Peaks Region for this metric.

“That’s the brilliance and beauty of a structured Performance Excellence program,” said Lockhart. “PE allows us to quantify what it means to be better and gives us a clear pathway to be accountable to our patients for the care we provide them. And that’s what it’s all about. We all get into healthcare to help people.”

Just months into the role, Lockhart is still in his deep dive, familiarizing himself with all of the hospital’s quality committees – their struggles, strengths, current initiatives and goals. One quality metric already in his line of sight is Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries, which he identifies as a “growth opportunity.” But for most other metrics, his goal is to help take them “from an A to an A+.”

“If we’re not at an A+, there’s room for improvement,” said Lockhart. “We can celebrate progress, but I never want to be comfortable or satisfied with where we stand on these numbers. We should meet our goals and then continue to push forward. It’s good to be hungry.”

Serving on the PEC with Lockhart are these physician and APP members.

Chris Bates, MD, Pulmonary Disease | Stuart Bruckman, PA, Orthopaedic Surgery | Elizabeth Cyran, MD, Internal Medicine | James Finigan, MD, Pulmonary Disease | Marshall Gottesfeld, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology | Thomas Griffiths, MD, Anesthesiology | Adam Hill, MD, Emergency Medicine | Glenn Hirsch, MD, Cardiovascular Disease | Carrie Horn, MD, Internal Medicine | Kristen Knowles, DO, Emergency Medicine | Ken Lyn-Kew, MD, Pulmonary Disease | Scott Milch, MD, Internal Medicine | Garrett Mitchell, MD, Emergency Medicine | Mike Morton, MD, Internal Medicine | Marcus Oginsky, MD, Internal Medicine | Simon Payne, MD, Peaks Regional Chief Medical Officer | Ann Ryan, MD, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine | Kathleen Saxon, MD, Emergency Medicine | Eric Seger, DO, Internal Medicine | Kathryn Seitz, MD, Family Medicine | Al Steinmann, MD, Saint Joseph Chief of Academic Medicine | John Tynes, MD, Saint Joseph Chief Medical Officer | Liz Withers, MD, Emergency Medicine

Physicians who recognize opportunities to improve clinical quality in their care areas are encouraged to reach out to Lockhart at glockhart70@gmail.com or any member of the PEC.