News Articles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: June 22, 2016

CONTACT:
Michelle Frasik-Wilczynski
(989) 894-3813
[email protected] 

McLaren Bay Region Announces Quality Excellence Award Winners

McLaren Bay Region has announced the recipients of its third annual Quality Excellence Awards. Axel Thors, DO, Vascular Surgeon at McLaren Bay Heart & Vascular won the “Physician Champion in Quality Excellence Award.” Katie Roberts, Infection Preventionist, was the recipient of the “Clinical Champion in Quality Excellence Award.” The honors were presented during the hospital’s Quality Impact Team celebration event on June 9, 2016.

Jason M. White, Chief Medical Officer, presented the award to Dr. Thors. “Dr. Thors has a passion for his craft that drives him to provide excellent, thorough, up-to-date, evidenced-based care,” Dr. White said. “He has a strong work ethic and is very detail-oriented. He truly cares about his patients and their quality of life.”

Dr. Thors has been the Physician Champion for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MI Vascular Intervention Collaborative for a year. Additionally, he has been the Chairman of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) required Carotid Stenting Oversight Committee since October 2015 and is also the Physician Champion for the Transfusion program at McLaren Bay Region. Dr. Thors has been on the staff of McLaren Bay Heart and Vascular for three years. Dr. Thors and his family reside in Midland, MI.

Ellen Talbott, Vice President of Patient Care Services, presented the award to Katie Roberts. “Katie has driven many Infection Prevention initiatives at McLaren Bay Region,” said Ms. Talbott.  “She leads the teams on hand hygiene, surgical site infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections and several others.”

Roberts, an Infection Preventionist in McLaren Bay Region’s Infection Prevention department, has been employed for four years at the hospital and resides in Midland, MI.

Quality Excellence Award nominees must demonstrate clinical practice, education, leadership and community involvement.  The purpose of the awards is to recognize clinical staff who go beyond the expectations when caring for patients, as well as being recognized by their peers.

About McLaren Health Care
McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Flint, Michigan, is a fully integrated health network committed to quality evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 12 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, the state’s only proton therapy center, an employed primary care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering more than 260,000 lives, home health and hospice providers, retail medical equipment showrooms, pharmacy services, and a wholly owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates Michigan’s largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, one of only 45 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive centers in the U.S. McLaren has 21,000 employees and more than 25,000 network providers. Its operations are housed in more than 300 facilities serving a 54-county market and 75 percent of Michigan’s population. Learn more at www.mclaren.org.