CMO Message: January 2026

“Chaos in the world brings uneasiness, but it also allows the opportunity for creativity and growth.”

-Tom Barrett

In keeping with my pattern of introducing the year according to the Chinese Zodiac each January, welcome to 2026 – the year of the Fire Horse! The Chinese Zodiac is a twelve-year cycle with each year represented by an animal and associated with one of five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The horse is naturally energetic and spirited, but this year the association with the fire element (for the first time in 60 years) will intensify those traits. So for 2026, buckle up for potential chaos… but also great opportunities for progress and innovation!

1)      Focus on: Patient Safety and Medication Reconciliation

Medication errors continue to be one of the most common and most costly medical errors harming 1.5 million people each year, with hospital costs exceeding $3.5 billion each year and morbidity and mortality costs exceeding $70 billion annually. Medication reconciliation is a critical step during transitions of care, especially as we place emphasis on efficiency and transitions of care. This month I want to focus on this important responsibility, covered by NPSG.03.06.01. Physicians and APCs play an important role in reconciling medications; there a number of sources to obtain an accurate medication list including review of PDMP (Prescription Drug Monitoring Program) for controlled substances and PTA meds (medications a patient is taking Prior To Admission). See the below tip sheets to follow existing workflows in Epic to be sure that you are following the workflow to obtain a current medication list when patients are seen in an outpatient setting and on admission to the hospital, reviewing and reconciling any discrepancies, and updating and educating at discharge and at the end of an outpatient encounter.

Medication Reconciliation Status

Admission Overview for Inpatient Providers

Admission Orders and Medication Reconciliation

Order Home Medications After the Patient Has Been Admitted

2)      Continued Focus on: Throughput and Length of Stay

Congratulations on meeting our length of stay (LOS) targets consecutive months in 2025! At St. Peter, you helped us reach our adjusted target ALOS (5.3 days) with ALOS of 4.95 and 5.03 days in September and October respectively. At Providence Centralia Hospital, our teams achieved the outstanding target for GMLOS O:E for the year (closing at 1.11) as well as reaching our target ALOS August through December (at 4.02, 3.88, 3.51, 4.00 and 3.88 days respectively).

In true “fire horse” fashion, we will be challenged to meet and exceed even more challenging targets in 2026, with a goal ALOS of 5.09 at PSPH and 4.04 at PCH. The good news here is that we have met these targets in the recent past, consecutively, so I know that we can do it again! I look forward to partnering with you to build on our prior successes and hardwire our processes to ensure our patients get safe, high-quality care at the right place and right time in 2026.