Claiborne Medical Center Looks Back at 2024

Thank you to our dedicated employees who helped Claiborne Medical Center receive many honors in 2024 and who deliver excellent care to our patients every day! We are excited about 2025 and adding additional services at Claiborne Medical Center to help keep Claiborne County healthy.

At Claiborne Medical Center, we follow Covenant Health’s Pledge of Excellence and strive to put our patients first in everything we do. In 2024, several national organizations recognized our excellence. Thanks to our Claiborne team, we earned several awards and launched new equipment and services in 2024.

Recognition for Patient Safety

Claiborne Medical Center received an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group in the spring and fall of 2024. The fall award made the seventh consecutive ‘A’ grade that Claiborne Medical Center had received.  Leapfrog assigns safety grades based on over 30 measures of errors, accidents, injuries, and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them. Each of Covenant Health’s nine acute-care hospitals throughout East Tennessee received an ‘A’ grade for fall 2024.

In October, the Tennessee Hospital Association awarded Claiborne Medical Center three Zero Harm awards. These awards represent a new initiative recognizing outstanding achievements in patient safety across Tennessee hospitals. The award celebrated hospitals and clinical departments that reached zero healthcare-associated infections over the past calendar year.

Stroke Care

Once again, Claiborne Medical Center received Acute Ready Stroke Hospital certification from The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. As part of the certification process, Claiborne underwent an extensive onsite review in March 2024. We are proud to be a member of Covenant Health, the region’s only stroke hospital network. Across Covenant Health’s stroke network, 89 percent of patients who come to the emergency department with stroke symptoms are seen in less than 15 minutes.

Also, our stroke care services were recognized in July 2024 when we received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines- Rural Stroke Bronze quality achievement award for our efforts to optimize stroke care and eliminate rural healthcare outcome disparities.

Nursing Home Recognition

Claiborne Health and Rehabilitation Center, which provides both short-term and long-term care, was also recognized in 2024. In November 2024, both U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek named Claiborne Health and Rehabilitation Center as a “Best Nursing Home”. In Newsweek’s review, nursing homes were ranked by performance data, recommendations of medical professionals, accreditations, and patient satisfaction. CHRC was one of 21 nursing homes recognized in Tennessee. U.S. News & World Report recognized Claiborne Health and Rehabilitation Center for high performance in short-term rehabilitation.

Celebrating New Services and Equipment

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT)

In 2024, Claiborne Medical Center received new equipment for our imaging department. In January 2024, we received a new Computed Tomography (CT) scanner. This machine is a 128-slice scanner and offers clearer and faster imaging for patients undergoing diagnostic or preventative scans. Our machine has more detectors than others in the Tri-State region, speeding up the imaging process and yielding same-day results and shorter visits. It offers outpatient diagnostic tests for all areas of the body and preventative screenings like low-dose lung cancer screenings.

Also, In September 2024 Claiborne Medical Center installed the latest technology for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The new equipment offers clearer and sharper images for more detailed and accurate imaging for our patients. This MRI completes scans up to 50 percent faster than other comparable imaging technology and was the first machine of its kind in the Tri-State area. It offers reduced noise levels and accommodates a wide range of body types, providing an improved patient experience.

Philanthropy

In September 2024, the 24^th annual Golf for Great Healthcare tournament was held at the beautiful Woodlake Golf Course. This year’s tournament was a success, with over 30 teams participating and raising over $20,000 for healthcare in our community. This tournament is sponsored by the Claiborne County Healthcare Foundation and is a major fundraiser for Claiborne Medical Center. This year’s funds were used to purchase new stretchers for our surgery department and are much appreciated.

In December, Claiborne Medical Center received an early Christmas gift from the La-Z-Boy Foundation and England Furniture when we were presented with a $5,000 check. These funds will be used in the expansion of our cardiac rehabilitation program to include pulmonary rehabilitation services in 2025.

Thank you to these generous sponsors of healthcare in our community!

Looking forward to 2025

2024 was a great year at Claiborne Medical Center, and we look forward to sharing further facility updates, new physicians, and expanded services in 2025. If you would like to visit our facility or want someone from Claiborne to speak at your organization, please contact Betsy Maples at 423-526-2192.