On January 30, 2025, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) awarded Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) with its Gold Beacon Award for Excellence. The Beacon Award for Excellence — a significant milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and healthy work environments — recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align practices with AACN’s Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that achieve this award with gold, silver or bronze designations meet national criteria consistent with the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the National Quality Healthcare Award.
The Gold Beacon Award for Excellence, earned by ARMC's 4-North Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU), signifies an effective and systematic approach to policies, procedures and processes that include engagement of staff and key stakeholders; evaluation strategies for continuous process improvement; and performance measures that meet or exceed relevant benchmarks. The 4-North team earned a gold award by meeting the following evidence-based Beacon Award for Excellence criteria:
- Patient Outcomes
- Work Environment
- Nursing Workforce
About the Beacon Award for Excellence: Established in 2003, the Beacon Award for Excellence offers a road map to help guide exceptional care through improved outcomes and greater overall patient satisfaction. U.S. and Canadian units where patients receive their principal nursing care after hospital admission qualify for this excellence award. To learn more, visit www.aacn.org/beacon or call (800) 899-2226.
About ARMC: Arrowhead Regional Medical Center is a 456-bed university-affiliated teaching hospital licensed by the State of California Department of Public Health, operated by San Bernardino County, and governed by the Board of Supervisors. It is ARMC’s mission, in an environment of learning and innovation, to serve our diverse community with high-quality, compassionate care. The hospital, located on a 70-acre campus in Colton, California, operates the Edward G. Hirschman Regional Burn Center, the Dev A. GnanaDev Trauma Center, a comprehensive stroke center, an inpatient behavioral health center, neonatal intensive care unit, women’s health and maternal-fetal medicine, orthopedics, five primary care centers, and more. ARMC also provides more than 40 outpatient specialty care services. ARMC is helping to achieve the countywide vision by addressing the community’s wellness and educational needs. ARMC is the primary teaching hospital for the California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM). The University welcomed its first class of students in 2018. For more information on CUSM, visit https://cusm.edu/. For more information about ARMC, visit https://www.arrowheadregional.org/. You can also watch this video to learn more about ARMC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbqv6Ef7qfg
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: Founded in 1969 and based in Aliso Viejo, California, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. AACN represents the interests of more than half a million acute and critical care nurses and includes more than 200 chapters in the United States. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. To learn more about AACN, visit www.aacn.org, connect with the organization on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aacnface or follow AACN on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aacnme.