The staff of UAB St. Vincent’s Chilton recently enjoyed an ice cream party to celebrate the hospital’s accomplishments for fiscal year 2025. Along with recognizing the staff with a hospital-wide event, leadership noted that granular records of achievements can provide a more nuanced and meaningful account of excellence and commitment.
Shanon Hamilton, administrator for UAB St. Vincent’s Chilton since 2019, maintains a highly detailed “deep dive” spreadsheet of work done by all the teams at this full-service hospital in Clanton, Ala. Keeping track in this way enables leadership to review and celebrate accomplishments beyond the standard recognitions framed under quality, patient satisfaction, etc.
“The granular view gives us both a closeup look at finer points and a long view of hospital-wide, daily endeavors,” Hamilton said. “I do have categories such as safety and quality, of course, but there are many other buckets. And in these are listed the so-called smaller tasks and duties that, when completed, add up to a large array of important accomplishments and milestones.”
Excellence is in the details
The spreadsheet recognizes both individuals and teams. For example, under “Associate Achievement/Associate Satisfaction,” Hamilton includes staff additions and employees who achieved certifications and passed registries. Also listed under specific achievements are equipment purchases, gross revenue increases for various services, departmental growth, and additions or expansions of service lines. Hospital infrastructure improvements and additions are included as well, and the spreadsheet gives an exhaustive account of revenue and volume increases.
“Our regional setting allows for such a granular account,” Hamilton said. “At this scale, we can include details that otherwise might not be shown individually. Leaders and staff can clearly see from this method that a patient satisfaction score, for example, is ultimately the result of multiple smaller things. We can see that it’s much more complex than ‘this department is top-rated, or that service is recognized for a certain achievement.’”
Hamilton emphasizes the dual value of tracking accomplishments. First, leadership and associates do indeed see detailed work. Second, the value of recognition can be compounded.
“It’s good to pause and reflect on the hospital’s work from the standpoint of useful data and morale,” Hamilton said. “For the recognition event, we wrote every accomplishment on wall-sized Post-It Notes and created a wall of achievements. A common response is, ‘Wow, did we really do all that?’ And the answer is, ‘Yes, we did.’ That’s why we want to recognize and celebrate the fact that accomplishment and excellence derive from a body of work. How we get there is definitely in the details.”
