FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 5, 1997

CONTACT: Mary Ann Maloney (202) 606-1800 mamalone@opm.gov

Washington, D.C.--Members of the labor-management team at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Spokane, Washington are being honored by the National Partnership Council for their efforts in creating a team that has improved customer service and saved tax dollars. The members of the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center partnership will receive the award at the National Partnership Award ceremony on:

The National Partnership Council was created on October 1, 1993, by President Clinton to forge labor-management relations throughout the Executive Branch and encourage agencies and unions to work together to create a government that works better and costs less. The Council is comprised of federal cabinet and agency officials, the presidents of the American Federation of Government Employees, National Treasury Employees Union, the National Federation of Federal Employees, a representative of the Public Employees Department of the AFL-CIO, and representatives from the Senior Executive Association and the Federal Managers Association.

The Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) provides medical and surgical services to more than 11,000 veterans a year. The staff at VAMC decided to revamp the centers care delivery process in order to provide better accessibility times, and higher quality services at less cost. The center also wanted to change from a bed-based to an outpatient-based managed care delivery system. Using Total Quality Management methodology and benchmarking techniques, and empowering front-line employees to assist in the system restructuring, the VAMC has increased outpatient service by 28 percent, reduced length of inpatient stays by 42 percent, and reduced bed care days by 48 percent. Every patient now has a personal physician who is accessible at all times. Customer satisfaction surveys show a 14 percent increase in patient satisfaction with the Spokane VAMCs coordination of care, a 31 percent increase regarding emotional support provided, and a 34 percent increase with respect to timeliness of services. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, an independent accrediting body that regularly inspects more than 6,000 hospitals, recently awarded the Spokane VAMC a top score of 100.

In addition to saluting the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center partnership, the National Partnership Council will present awards to six other partnerships that have improved service and saved money.

Each of the partnerships we recognize today is a model for managers and unions as they work together to deliver the highest quality services to the American people, said Vice President Al Gore, who has spearheaded the Reinventing Government effort.

Janice R. Lachance, Acting OPM Director and Chair of the NPC, added, Todays honorees have proven that federal labor-management partnerships provide real results for the American people by saving taxpayer money and delivering better services.

Members of the media wishing to attend the ceremony should contact OPMs Mary Ann Maloney at 202-606-1800 or at mamalone@opm.gov. A live satellite broadcast can be downlinked using the following coordinates:

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