Recognized for higher quality of care provided to respiratory failure patients:

Mesquite Specialty Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s national disease-specific certification in respiratory failure. This means the hospital is providing the highest level of care available in the nation to its patients.

Certification is voluntary and given after a rigorous on-site review of the hospital’s practices, programs, and outcomes in treating patients with respiratory failure. It is available only to acute care hospitals that are accredited by The Joint Commission.

“Respiratory failure can be serious and life-threatening,” says Michael Ridgeway, Chief Operating Officer of Mesquite Specialty Hospital. “We know it’s our responsibility to ensure our patients are provided with the best possible chances of recovery. The review and certification provided by The Joint Commission lets us – as well as the community – know that we are setting a new standard of care for individuals who suffer from respiratory failure. We’re providing nationally recognized care right here to patients in the Mesquite and Dallas-Fort Worth area.”

Respiratory failure occurs when there isn’t enough oxygen passing from the lungs into the body’s bloodstream, thus creating the potential to critically harm the body’s organs like the heart and brain.

“Oxygen-rich blood is needed to help the body’s organs function properly,” explains Dr. Ike Osuji, Medical Director of Mesquite Specialty Hospital. “Respiratory failure also can occur if a patient’s lungs can’t remove carbon dioxide from the blood. Carbon dioxide is a waste gas that also can harm a body’s organs.”

Different types of diseases can cause respiratory failure, including lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, or cystic fibrosis. Respiratory failure also can be caused by conditions that affect the nerves and muscles that control breathing such as strokes, spinal cord injuries, and muscular dystrophy.

“It’s our goal to get oxygen into the lungs and other organs while treating the underlying cause of respiratory failure,” Osuji says, “To get the most successful results for our patients, we use best practices and follow evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. This helps us provide not only the physical, but the emotional healing our patients need.”

“By implementing these guidelines into our respiratory failure program, we’ve been able to improve how quickly and safely we can wean patients from ventilators,” Osuji continues. “These guidelines also help us successfully prevent hospital-acquired wounds and pressure ulcers.”

Osuji says that family involvement also is promoted in conjunction with the clinical practice guidelines. “Family involvement is key to a patients’ recovery process,” he says. “Engaged family members help increase the chance that patients will be discharged back to home, as we’ve seen through our program.”

At the hospital, an interdisciplinary respiratory failure team creates a personalized plan of care with the patient and family members that is tailored to the complex needs of each patient. Members of the team include physicians, nurses, therapists, pharmacists, case managers, dietitians, and other medical professionals. All patients receive 24-hour nursing and respiratory care services with daily physician management. The hospital consists of all private patient rooms with available sleeping accommodations for families, including a 6-bed intensive care unit and 9-bed high-observation unit. Every room is monitored and includes any specialty equipment needed such as ventilators and cardiac monitoring equipment.

“The interdisciplinary approach – which heavily involves patients’ families – allows us to minimize the risk of complications and maximize patient outcomes and quality of life,” Osuji says. “In addition to educating our patients and families, we also assist with the patient’s healing by coordinating services that the patient may need after being discharged from the hospital. This can include specialized rehabilitation, home health, or other home assistance as needed.”

“Respiratory failure is an extremely stressful time for patients and their family members,” Ridgeway says. “That’s why we’ve gone the extra mile to earn The Joint Commission’s certification. We want to provide better outcomes to our patients and offer hope and quality of life through the highest level of physical and emotional care available.”