Patients Benefitting from Enhanced Quality of Care at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital

Far Rockaway, New York, July 14, 2020 — St. John’s Episcopal Hospital (SJEH) announced today that Terri Coyle, Vice President of Behavioral Health, is the recipient of the United Hospital Fund’s (UHF) Excellence in Health Care Award. The recognition signifies the enhancements in quality of care, patient safety, and patient experience that have taken place at SJEH since Jerry Walsh took the helm as Chief Executive Officer in mid-2015.

Under Coyle’s leadership of the Behavioral Health department, the hospital has seen the readmission rates of adult behavioral health patients admitted for the same condition as a previous admission drop significantly, as well as an improvement in patient satisfaction.

Recently, Coyle created a free virtual support group via Zoom in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The support groups, led by facilitators, provided similar support in the Rockaways after 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy, and focus on different types of emotional support including coping with grief, loss, stress, and anxiety.

In addition to the recognition from UHF, the hospital is ranked as High Performing in Heart Failure by US News & World Report, and is the recipient of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award and the organization’s Heart Failure Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award.

SJEH has also recently earned Baby-Friendly Hospital designation through the BabyFriendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI)–a global program led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to promote practices that protect and support breastfeeding.