IU Health Bedford receives Community Impact Award

Bedford- On Tuesday, Oct. 4, members of the Indiana Department of Health visited IU Health Bedford Hospital to present them with the State Office of Rural Health Critical Access Hospital Community Impact Award for 2022.

“This team has shown so much heart and compassion over the past few years,” said IU Health Bedford Hospital Chief Operating Officer Larry Bailey. “Their efforts to continually provide excellent care while reaching for ways to help as many people in this community as possible is admirable and has saved many lives through the pandemic.”

“Truly, this is one of the busiest critical access hospitals around,” said Cindy Herrington DNP, FNP, RN, NE-BC, OCN, IU Health South Central Region Chief Nursing Officer. “Seeing our team take care of this community makes me so proud.”

During one of the COVID-19 surges, the Bedford team couldn’t transfer patients to higher levels of care in Indiana or the surrounding states because there weren’t any beds available. So, they decided they would bring care to the patients.

The Bedford group worked with IU Health Bloomington team members in real-time to learn a new technique to care for patients with acute respiratory distress. These individuals would typically go to another facility for treatment. It was a group effort with ICU, respiratory, pharmacy, and other teams giving a hand to ensure their Bedford colleagues had the knowledge and skills they needed to care for patients during this difficult time.

Amanda Alcorn, RN, BSN, IU Health Bedford Hospital Quality Improvement Manager, nominated the team for the award due to the fantastic efforts she saw. 

“We were able to keep those patients here that we normally would have sent to other facilities for a higher acuity of care,” said Alcorn. “I’m just so proud to be part of this team.”

“We are so honored to receive this award and so proud of IU Health Bedford Hospital as one of the busiest, highest acuity, and comprehensive critical access hospitals in the state and nation,” said Alan Biggs, FACHE, MBA, IU Health South Central Region Chief Operating Officer. “This team is an excellent example of the care that is possible and needed in our smaller and more rural communities.”