Mendocino Coast District Hospital Clinic wins 1st Place for PRIME Project

NCFHC Increases Cancer Screenings

Mendocino Coast District Hospital has won the first place Gold Award at the yearly statewide PRIME conference for its project “Improving the health of our rural community through increased cancer screenings.” The competition included 48 California safety net hospitals for this award.

North Coast Family Health Center (NCFHC) increased their breast cancer screening rate by 44%, cervical cancer screening rate by 67% and boosted the colorectal cancer screening rate by 14%. This has significant impact because cancer is the leading cause of death in Mendocino County, and research shows that screening for cancer saves lives.

PRIME stands for Public Hospital Redesign and Incentives in Medi-Cal. This program is administered through California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).  While its goals are to improve patient care to high risk Medi-Cal patients, NCFHC is applying its strategies and systems to all of its patients.  Meeting the goals of this project will also provide additional funding over the next several years for the organization.

In addition to staff at all levels at the hospital clinic, lead by Clinic Manager Ilona Horton, Doug Should, the new Public Information Officer, designed the award winning poster.  President Steve Lund offered, on behalf of the MCDH Board, “congratulations to everyone for all your hard work to improve the health of our community”!