PRINCETON, NJ – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has selected 15 hospitals to participate in two new quality improvement programs as part of its Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative.

Foundation officials say AF4Q is designed to lift the overall quality of healthcare in targeted communities, reduce racial and ethnic disparities and provide models for real reform.

“Although the quality of healthcare is poor for many Americans, we know that some patients from specific racial and ethnic backgrounds continue to experience even lower-quality healthcare,” said Anne F. Weiss, team director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “These two collaboratives address disparities head-on – and they do it at the local level, because while gaps in quality are a national problem, addressing them must happen locally, through hard work in real communities.”

The “Aligning Forces for Quality: Language Quality Improvement Collaborative” (Language QI Collaborative) is designed to identify and test strategies for hospitals to provide timely, effective language services to patients with limited English proficiency.

The participants in this collaborative are:

    * Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, Mo.
    * Truman Medical Center Hospital Hill of Kansas City, Mo.
    * Methodist North Hospital of Memphis, Tenn.
    * Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn.
    * Mercy Health Partners, Mercy Campus, Muskegon, Mich.
    * Erie County Medical Center Corporation in Buffalo, N.Y.

The “Aligning Forces for Quality: Equity Quality Improvement Collaborative” (Equity QI Collaborative) is designed to identify and address racial and ethnic disparities in cardiac care, and test real-world solutions.

Participants in this  collaborative are:

    * Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
    * Beaumont Hospitals in Detroit
    * Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center in Dearborn, Mich.
    * St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Mich.
    * St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, Calif.
    * Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Me.
    * Mercy Hospital in Portland, Me.
    * Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Wash.
    * Valley Medical Center in Renton, Wash.

The hospitals will participate through a "learning network" to test new ideas, quantify results and share lessons learned.

Led by RWJF, the collaboratives will be overseen by the Center for Healthcare Quality at The George Washington University Medical Center School of Public Health and Health Services, which serves as the national program office for AF4Q.