WVU Medicine Garrett Regional Medical Center (GRMC) and WVU Medicine Potomac Valley Hospital (PVH) President and CEO Mark Boucot have been appointed to serve as an at-large delegate of the Regional Policy Board 3 (Southeastern United States) with the American Hospital Association (AHA).
The AHA is a national organization that represents hospitals and healthcare networks throughout the U.S. and serves their patients and communities through advocacy, representation, knowledge exchange and thought leadership. Boucot and other regional policy board members will work together to bring forward policy recommendations to the AHA unique to our region.
“I am honored to be appointed to address healthcare policy on a national level. It’s an honor to represent rural hospitals and health systems throughout our region,” remarked Mark Boucot, President and CEO of GRMC and PVH. “This is an incredible opportunity to advocate for rural community hospitals at the national level.”
“Mark has extensive experience leading rural hospitals, and I look forward to his contributions to the AHA through Regional Policy Board 3,” stated Matthew Wright, AHA Region 3 executive.
Boucot has more than 30 years of healthcare experience and serves as president and CEO for both GRMC, a 55-bed acute care hospital in Oakland, and PVH, a critical access hospital located in Keyser, West Virginia.
He holds a master’s degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (2001), a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management from Cabrini College (1997), the Fellow Certification from the American College of Healthcare Executives, and has a Certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt from the Juran Institute.
Under Boucot’s leadership, GRMC has received national recognition in safety and quality care, including being named a Top 20 Rural and Community Hospital in the United States by the National Rural Health Association and the Chartis Center for Rural Health for 2022 and 2021. GRMC has also received recognition as a Top 100 Rural and Community Hospital for five consecutive years and has been awarded six consecutive “A” hospital safety grades by the LeapFrog Group.
GRMC had no inpatient central line-associated bloodstream infections in 2022, marking nine years since a patient experienced such an infection in the facility. The hospital also ended the past year with no inpatient catheter-associated urinary tract infections, the sixth consecutive year without this type of infection. Further, the hospital has the state’s best hospital-acquired condition score for 2022, which is an indicator for reducing preventable complications and assuring patient safety.
PVH improved emergency room wait times and added additional specialty services, including the opening of the WVU Cancer Institute of PVH in 2022. Rated a five-star facility by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2020, PVH also received designation as West Virginia’s Community Star for 2021.
Furthermore, PVH was the first critical access hospital in the West Virginia Health System to achieve acute stroke-ready hospital certification through the Joint Commission and the American Heart Association, making it the third hospital in the state of West Virginia to achieve this designation. The hospital was also awarded the American College of Radiology gold seal of accreditation in computed tomography.
For more information on Garrett Regional Medical Center, visit www.wvumedicine.org/garrett.
For more information on Potomac Valley Hospital, visit www.wvumedicine.org/potomac-valley-hospital.
