Challenge
At the start of 2025, Scotland County Hospital was ready to take the next step in its transformation. After navigating a successful financial turnaround, leadership turned its attention to quality. While the hospital had a quality department in place, it primarily served to meet regulatory requirements and was struggling to do so effectively. The program lacked a patient-centered focus, clear goals, and accountability. Staffing challenges, including the departure of the Director of Quality, further strained the team’s ability to maintain reporting and drive improvement.
Cassie Beard, recently appointed Chief Nursing Officer, recognized both the challenges and the opportunities. With a strong internal advocate and an experienced team member taking on the quality leadership role, the hospital sought expert support to evaluate its current state, establish a sustainable structure, and generate momentum.
Why Stroudwater
Having previously partnered with Stroudwater Associates on financial and operational strategy, CEO Meagan Weber and her leadership team knew they could rely on the firm’s practical, rural-focused approach. They engaged Stroudwater again—this time to bring clarity, structure, and support to the hospital’s quality improvement efforts.
Process
Stroudwater’s approach was pragmatic, collaborative, and tailored to rural realities:
- Structured Pre-Work: Initial calls helped identify documentation gaps, clarify priorities, and set expectations. The process was transparent and supportive, creating a safe space for staff to assess their current state honestly.
- Onsite Evaluation: Over two intensive days, Stroudwater’s team conducted interviews with staff across departments, reviewed data and reports, and benchmarked current practices against industry best practices. The goal: to understand where the hospital stood and where it needed to go.
- Action Planning: Using a collaborative action planning process, the team identified top priorities and set measurable goals. Each action item was assigned an owner, ensuring accountability and progress tracking.
Results
Within six months, the hospital had made meaningful progress:
- Quality Accountability: Every department now has a Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) plan in place. Staff understand what quality means in their daily work and how to measure progress.
- Rapid Improvements: Within 30 days, the hospital completed overdue reporting requirements, resolved gaps in infection prevention tracking, and established a measurement culture—milestones that restored confidence and ensured compliance.
- Ongoing Momentum: The quality team meets monthly to track progress, support department leads, and maintain accountability across the organization.
- Trusted Partnership: Stroudwater remains a valuable resource for guidance, offering on-demand support and expertise tailored to the unique realities of rural areas.
“In rural healthcare, you wear so many hats that it’s hard to build a quality program alone. Stroudwater helped us lay the foundation and gave us a clear path forward. Their team didn’t just assess where we were—they helped us see what’s possible and how to get there.”
— Cassie Beard, Chief Nursing Officer, Scotland County Hospital
Impact
For Scotland County Hospital, this quality initiative wasn’t just about meeting requirements—it was about creating a culture of accountability, improving patient care, and positioning the hospital for long-term success. With the right support and a structured approach, rural hospitals can build strong, sustainable quality programs. Scotland County Hospital’s experience proves that when you start with clarity and commit to action, meaningful improvement is within reach.
To learn more about Stroudwater’s approach to quality infrastructure evaluation and planning, please visit this page.
