Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Earns Cal Hospital Compare Opioid Care Honor Roll

Every day, more than 300 people in the United States die of opioid overdoses

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC) was cited for “superior performance” and earned the Cal Hospital Compare (CHC) 2023 Opioid Care Honor Roll Program for its strategies to promote safe and effective opioid use. The state honor recognized the hospital for providing treatment for patients with opioid use disorder, access to naloxone to prevent opioid overdose related deaths and reducing barriers to care by addressing stigma. Between January and March 2023, CHC, a performance reporting initiative managed by a multi-stakeholder board of directors, invited California adult, acute care hospitals to voluntarily submit their opioid management hospital self-assessment results to be considered for its 2023 Opioid Care Honor Roll.

PVHMC received its superior performance rating for implementing advanced, innovative opioid stewardship strategies across multiple service lines and consistently achieving the highest level of performance. Additionally, PVHMC actively measured and monitored performance for the purpose of continued quality improvement.

“Addressing the dangers of opioid dependency is an important priority across our hospital,” says Darlene Scafiddi, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Executive Vice President of Patient Care Services, PVHMC. “Across our departments, physicians and staff work together to address patient pain management safely.”

All 348 California adult, acute care hospitals were invited to participate, and 109 hospitals voluntarily submitted data sharing their progress on implementing evidence-based practices to address the opioid crisis.

Of the 109 participating hospitals, PVHMC was among 42 hospitals acknowledged for achieving "Superior Performance.” To ensure accuracy and validate the overall trend of high performance, each hospital on the honor roll underwent a comprehensive review and approval process by the Cal Hospital Compare Technical Advisory Committee and Board of Directors.

Participating hospitals answered eight questions across four key domains of care including safe and effective opioid use, identifying, and treating patients with Opioid Use Disorder, overdose prevention, and applying cross-cutting opioid management best practices.

“From my years as an orthopedic surgeon, I know firsthand what it is like for a patient to struggle with post-operative pain,” says Dr. Nirav Amin, orthopedic surgeon, PVHMC. “Our team approaches patient pain management seriously and responsibly. There are non-opioid options, but all too often healthcare professionals don’t have that choice since these options are rarely included on formularies. We need policies to address the growing opioid dependency in our nation.”

Every day, more than 300 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious national crisis. In California there were over 7,100 opioid overdose deaths in 2021, including over 3,900 deaths from fentanyl.