BEND, Ore. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—St. Charles Health System and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement announced they have formed a strategic partnership to improve health and health care within central Oregon.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) works with organizations worldwide to spark bold, inventive ways to improve the health of individuals and populations. St. Charles joins the ranks of IHI’s Strategic Partners, a small group of organizations that share IHI’s vision and mission. IHI engages deeply with these organizations in the U.S. and other countries to build improvement capability across entire systems and attain system-wide improvement in key areas.

“What I like about IHI and what I believe this partnership brings us is access to IHI’s time-tested ways of increasing organizational efficiency and improving quality and safety outcomes,” said Jim Diegel, FACHE, president and CEO of St. Charles Health System. “IHI is going to inject discipline and focus in our efforts to achieve the Triple Aim: Better health, better care, better value.”

“We’re looking forward to partnering with St. Charles, a progressive organization that has adopted and committed to using IHI’s Triple Aim to define its strategic direction, as well as help guide how it evolves over time to meet the changing needs of the health care environment and the central Oregon community,” said Trissa Torres, senior vice president at IHI.

Over the next 17 months, experts from the Cambridge, Mass.-based nonprofit will work with St. Charles to:

Establish a measurement and learning system that will both help monitor progress toward the Triple Aim, as well as leverage data for ongoing, real-time quality improvement.

Design, test and implement a system that allows for the rapid execution of quality initiatives using the science of improvement.

Lead the research and development of innovative care delivery and advance quality improvement in a reliable and efficient way.

“IHI brings with it the tools, expertise and training that will help us accelerate our transformation so we become more efficient, faster,” Diegel said. “The health care industry is moving quickly, and we need to stay ahead of the changes that are naturally unfolding.”

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras and Redmond, and leases and operates Pioneer Memorial Hospital. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 3,000 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

About The Institute for Healthcare Improvement

IHI is a leading innovator in health and health care improvement worldwide. For more than 25 years, we have partnered with an ever-growing community of visionaries, leaders, and front-line practitioners around the globe to spark bold, inventive ways to improve the health of individuals and populations. Together, we build the will for change, seek out innovative models of care, and spread proven best practices. When it comes to raising the quality of health for all, IHI sees boundless possibilities and while we see the walls in front of us, we will not rest until we reach the other side. Learn more at ihi.org.