HAP Achievement Awards: AHN Wexford

September 04, 2026

HAP's annual Achievement Awards honor hospitals and health systems for their innovation, creativity, and commitment to patient care. The Achievement Awards showcase and share member hospitals’ and health systems’ successful programs and best practices.

AHN Wexford received the In Safe Hands Award for introducing a standardized approach to aspiration risk screening and swallow evaluation to reduce COPD readmissions.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The challenge:  Patients with COPD were experiencing higher-than-expected readmission rates, but routine case reviews were not showing a clear reason for their repeated respiratory decline.
• Addressing the Issue:  A deeper look uncovered aspiration risk as an often-missed factor, with inconsistent swallow screening and speech-language pathology referrals allowing some patients’ needs to go unrecognized.
• Taking Action:  Swallowing safety was built into COPD care through staff education, speech-language pathology consults for patients with COPD, and practical discharge guidance to help patients and families reduce risk after leaving the hospital.
• Results:   Thirty-four percent of patients who received advanced swallow testing showed signs of aspiration, and COPD readmissions decreased across 30-day, 14-day, and 7-day timeframes.
• Advancing Care:  The initiative brought attention to a less visible risk that can affect recovery after discharge, with the project narrative noting that “patient education must be treated as a core clinical intervention, as post-discharge outcomes are highly dependent on adherence to swallowing-safety behaviors.”

Congratulations to AHN Wexford for its outstanding efforts to enhance patient safety and care outcomes. Learn more about the project online.

Questions about the HAP Achievement Awards may be directed to HAP Member Services at (717) 561-5359.