Another Florence Chamber Partnership program focused on improving our educational opportunities.
“Thanks to ArborOne Farm Credit for their generous sponsorship of today’s session at the S.C. Agribiz Expo! We learned that when agriculture and forestry are combined, they create the #1 industry in our state. We had a great time learning about livestock, farm technology, agribusiness and more!”
Check out the Jr. Leadership Florence County Facebook page here.
On Tuesday, Jan. 8, the Chamber’s Leadership Florence class held Social Issues Day.
The 38 member class visited, toured and heard from more than 20 area non-profits agencies and social service providers in the Florence area.
The 2018-2019 Junior Leadership Florence Class was busy Thursday morning helping out at Harvest Hope Food Bank during their Social Issues and Community Service Day.
The JLF program is a partnership between The Greater Florence Chamber, The Florence County 4-H and Francis Marion University. The program is similar in nature to the Chamber’s Leadership Florence program, but designed for our Florence County sophomore and junior level high schools students.
Leadership Florence visited Locked Inn – A Live Escape Room Experience as a part of their two-day team building retreat.
The class split into four teams and participants competed in a live action adventure game where they were “locked in” a room and had to use elements of the room to solve a series of puzzles to escape.
Thank you to the Locked Inn team for hosting Leadership Florence!
By: Andrew Boardwine
FLORENCE, S.C. — Two Florence hospitals ranked among the best in the state of South Carolina, according to a recent study.
The Leapfrog Group, an independent, national not-for-profit organization founded more than a decade ago by some of the nation’s leading employers and private health care experts, published its most recent Hospital Safety Scores.
Since 2012, the group has published the report cards twice a year—once in the spring and once during fall—taking into account errors, accidents, injuries and infections.
Based on these criteria, both McLeod Regional Medical Center of the Pee Dee and Carolinas Hospital System in Florence were awarded an A.
Both hospitals maintained A’s from spring 2018 grades that were published in April.
Carolinas Hospital System chief nursing officer Costa Cockfield said the organization was pleased to receive the accolade and continues to make safety a top priority.
“Carolinas Hospital System is pleased to have earned an A grade in the Leapfrog update as it recognizes the safe, quality care we provide to our patients,” Cockfield said. “We know that a Leapfrog Safety Score of an “A” can only be accomplished through purposeful, ongoing collaborative work among physicians, clinical and support staff. The systematic delivery of safe and reliable care requires relentless communication that safe care is priority. We continue to be very proud of our employees’ unwavering commitment to patient safety and exemplary care of our patients.”
C. Dale Lusk, M.D., chief medical officer and vice president for medical services of McLeod Regional Medical, said the recognition comes from the hard work the center puts into achieving safety for its patients.
“Quality is a core value for McLeod. Through the leadership of a medical staff committed to reviewing data and implementing robust process improvement methodology, we strive to continually improve the care we provide for the patients we serve,” Lusk said. “This recognition is evidence of the endless work that takes place every day to create a culture of quality and safety for our patients. We compare ourselves to the nation’s best in receiving measurable results and we remain dedicated to providing the highest quality medical care possible to our region.”
Other Pee Dee hospitals included in the study were Carolinas Hospital System- Marion (B); McLeod Health Cheraw (B); and Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center (C). Carolina Pines fell from a B in the spring to a C in the fall. Neither Carolinas Hospital System- Marion nor McLeod Health Cheraw was scored in the spring of 2018.
Of the 46 hospitals that were graded in South Carolina, 14 received an A. The state ranked No. 26 in the nation with 30.43 percent of hospitals receiving an A. The top-rated state was New Jersey (56.72 percent) while Delaware, North Dakota and Washington, D.C., tied for last with no hospital receiving an A grade.
The Pee Dee graded as the top region in the state, with 40 percent of its hospitals receiving A’s and another 40 percent receiving B’s. The region also had the lowest number of hospitals with five.
The Upstate region was second with 38.5 percent of its 13 hospitals receiving an A; the Grand Strand was third with 33.3 percent of its six hospitals receiving an A; the Midlands fourth with 25 percent of 12 hospitals receiving an A; and the Lowcountry last with 20 percent of 10 hospitals receiving an A.
Fifty percent of Midlands hospitals received a C grade while 50 percent of the Lowcountry region received a grade of B. The Upstate had another 38.5 percent of its hospitals receive C grades.
Leap Frog graded more than 2,600 hospitals nationally. Thirty-two percent earned an A, 24 percent earned a B, 37 percent a C, 6 percent a D and just less than 1 percent an F.
October 13 was Health Issues Day for the Leadership Florence class of 2019. The day was filled with scenarios, information and tours of some of our local healthcare facilities.
The class visited and learned about McLeod Health, Florence Family YMCA, HopeHealth, Carolinas Hospital System and The Manor.
Students in Junior Leadership Florence visited GE, Honda and Otis on Tuesday, Nov. 6, as part of their Business & Industry Day. We would like to thank these businesses for their hospitality and educating the students. We would also like to thank JLFC Advisory Board member, Lauren Stanton, for coordinating the day.
Contributed Photos
On Oct. 23, the Junior Leadership Florence County class enjoyed a fabulous fall day in Lake City learning all about our history and growing our appreciation for the arts. Thanks to ARTFIELDS, Moore Farms Botanical Garden, Ron McNair Life History Center and The Bean Market for hosting. JLFC is a program modeled after the Florence Chamber’s Leadership Florence program, and is designed for public and private high school sophomores and juniors. It enables students to be able to develop leadership skills while also increasing their awareness of the community.
Junior Leadership Florence County consists of an opening retreat, followed by eight monthly sessions and seeks to provide an investment in the community’s future leadership by fostering interest in the county and inspiring students to become the leaders of tomorrow. This program is a joint effort between Florence County 4-H, The Greater Florence Chamber and Francis Marion University with support from local businesses.
The Leadership Florence journey continues, as the class had their October session on Oct. 9, Visual Arts and Media Day.
The 38 member class of 2018-2019 visited Adam’s Outdoor, iHeart Media, Morning News, FMU PAC, Florence Museum and Florence Little Theater.
The Greater Florence Chamber held their annual Fall Golf Classic at Traces Golf Club last Thursday, Oct. 4. The event was sponsored by Raldex Hospitality.
Local community leaders and business friends joined together as more than 100 players enjoyed great food and beverages during a great day on the links. Lunch was served at 11:00 a.m. and golfers hit the tees at 12:10 p.m. Everyone appreciated a course full of food and various hospitality hole vendors.
The first-place winning team was Cradles to Crayons with players Shane Grainger, Joel Oliver, Rick Reed and Bree Kullenburg. The second-place team was HopeHealth made up of Clay Oliver, David Ellis, Jamie Stanley and Noah Mims. Closest to the pin winners were Lisa Lee, Andy Haigler, Tim Bell and Trey Brown. Longest drive was Keith Young.
