February SPS Hospital Of The Month 2026
Congratulations to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital for being named the SPS Hospital of the Month for February!
Read what Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital had to say about the recognition:
“On behalf of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, we extend our sincere gratitude to Solutions for Patient Safety for the incredible honor of being named February’s Hospital of the Month. This recognition is especially meaningful to our team, as it reflects a year of intentional growth, shared learning, and an unwavering commitment to safer care for every child and family we serve.
Behind this achievement stands an extraordinary group of clinicians, leaders, and frontline team members who show up each day with a relentless focus on patient safety, transparency, and continuous improvement. Being part of the SPS Network has transformed our culture, challenged us to aim higher, and reinforced that safety is truly a team endeavor.
This recognition is not about a single metric or short-term success. It represents years of deliberate culture-building, open data sharing, multidisciplinary collaboration, and dedication to high-reliability principles. It affirms that Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is committed to a goal of zero harm.
For us, this honor belongs to our people. We are deeply grateful for the partnership, collaboration, and shared purpose that SPS fosters as we continue our journey toward zero harm – together.”
On how working toward zero harm has positively impacted patient experience:
“Working toward zero harm has changed how we approach every interaction with families, embedding safety, accountability, and continuous improvement into the patient experience. Our annual hospital-wide “Back-to-Basics” training, grounded in SPS principles, intentionally linked communication practices and safety behaviors to the overall patient experience. We have observed statistically significant improvements in five Child HCAHPS measures following implementation.
Building on that foundation, we launched our High Reliability in Medicine Campaign, Safer Care Together, designed to increase provider engagement in safety review, proactive harm prevention, communication, and the human connection. Through this physician-led reliability initiative, we aim to achieve ongoing improvement in patient experience.
For us, zero harm is not just about reducing CLABSIs or pressure injuries. It is about:
Explaining care in ways children understand
Encouraging children to ask questions
Confirming identity every time
Treating families with courtesy and respect
Creating psychological safety for both patients and staff
When families feel heard, informed and safe, their overall experience improves. That connection between safety and experience is central to our culture and remains at the heart of our zero-harm journey.”
On their employees:
“Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital has approximately 2,455 team members – including about 1,300 clinicians and 1,155 nonclinical staff – all aligned around the same zero-harm mission. Every role matters. From physicians to bedside nurses to environmental services to transport to administrative support – safety belongs to all of us.
We inspire each other through transparency and shared ownership. We openly review safety events and near misses. We celebrate harm-free milestones. We share unit-level data. We invite frontline leaders into redesign conversations. We recognize excellence publicly and frequently. When one unit solves a problem, the solution spreads. When one team identifies a risk, the entire hospital responds. Momentum builds because our staff sees the impact of their work – in both reduced harm and improved family feedback.”
On how patients inspire them:
“Our patients are children – resilient, brave, and trusting. Families entrust us with their most precious responsibility. That trust is sacred. When we see a child asking questions because a nurse encouraged them… When a parent tells us they felt heard during a difficult admission… When a family feels safe enough to speak up about a concern… Those moments remind us why zero harm is not optional – it is foundational. Children inspire us to be better, safer, clearer, kinder, and more accountable every single day.”
On their commitment to safety:
“Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is not just a high-performing hospital – it is a deeply mission-driven community. Our employees care profoundly about children. They are innovative, collaborative, data-driven, and humble enough to learn when we fall short. We believe that safety and patient experience are inseparable, that transparency builds trust, and that high reliability is a journey, not a destination. Recognition as SPS Hospital of the Month is a true honor, but our real success is measured by children returning home safely – and we remain committed to making tomorrow even safer than today.“
We applaud their outstanding work and commitment to patient safety. You can learn more about their work here.