Windber Medical Center (Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center at Windber) recently announced the appointment of Michelle Hamula, R.N., B.S.N., to Director of Nursing, effective immediately. In this newly created position, Hamula will oversee nursing services in addition to her responsibilities as Director of Quality at the hospital.
“I am thankful for the appointment and opportunity to coordinate nursing services within the hospital. Of priority is to establish some baseline information and work toward tangible goals,” said Hamula.
Hamula has been part of the WMC team for eight years and has held various positions, including the hospital’s first-ever Director of Quality. In this role she oversees and coordinates all aspects of patient satisfaction and clinical quality. Under her leadership, WMC recently earned the top score in the Johnstown/Somerset area in the first Hospital Compare, patient satisfaction rating released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Michelle has also led successful team projects for the Highmark Quality Blue program for the last six years and has found success in working with WMC’s interdisciplinary discharge planning team for a reduction in hospital readmissions, which has significantly reduced the penalty imposed by CMS.
“One of my passions is ensuring that Windber Medical Center maintains the reimbursement dueto us through success in the CMS incentive/penalty Quality programs,” said Hamula. “Working with the nursing staff is an integral part of that. I have established relationships working side-by-side with the staff here and will continue to do so throughout my career.”