You could say that Page Hospital had a banner week last week.
The Banner Health Page Hospital received a Bronze Designation from Planetree International last Saturday. The designation marks them as a facility going far above and beyond its standards of patient care and treatment.
It’s a very prestigious federally-recognized designation. Page Hospital is the only hospital in Arizona to be designated bronze status by Planetree International. Only four hospitals in the U.S. and six in the world have been designated such a high honor.
Planetree is a non-profit organization that works with hospitals in an effort to put the patient’s needs first, their hospital stay more comfortable and the overall experience easier to navigate.
The goal is to make the hospital atmosphere feel as homelike and welcoming as possible, said Susan Eubanks, chief nursing officer for Page Hospital.
“We want our patients and their families to feel like this is their home while they’re here,” said Eubanks. “Mostly we strive for our doctors and nurses to see a patient’s care, their stay with us, their experience in our facility, through their eyes, and I think they do a great job of that.”

Before attaining the Bronze Designation, the administrators and staff of Page Hospital were already proud of the way their hospital was performing, said Page Hospital CEO Brian Kellar.
To achieve the level of Bronze Designation was going to take a lot of work and dedication, and that would require everyone’s involvement and effort, said Kellar.
“In 2016, we asked all our employees if they wanted to pursue this and we took a vote and everyone wanted to go for it,” said Kellar. “We were already an amazing hospital, with an amazing staff, giving amazing patient care. This was something we were not scared of.”
Achieving a bronze status designation from Planetree is difficult for any hospital to attain. To do so requires the hospital to meet or exceed 50 criteria above the normal state, local and Banner Health standards.
Two nurses — Melisa Serventi and Amy Snell — played a particularly crucial role in Page Hospital achieving the bronze status designation, said Kellar.
“Melisa Serventi and Amy Snell were two RNs who took this all on their shoulders and said, ‘let’s go get it.’ You need a couple people who are data-driven caregivers and that’s Melisa and Amy,” he said.
Kellar also praised Eubanks.  
“She worked alongside of them,” he said. “She was a major part of the strategic engine. She was our Luke Skywalker on this.”
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey sent Page Hospital a commendation congratulating them for being the first hospital in Arizona to achieve a Bronze Designation.
The staff of the Page Hospital celebrated their achievement at a party held at the John C. Page Memorial Park with friends, family and former patients Saturday.
Page Hospital now has their sights on the Gold Status.
“Don’t be surprised if we do it in 2018,” said Kellar.