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ChristianaCare Earns Third Consecutive Apex Recognition Award for Excellence in Respiratory Care

Apr 25, 2023

3 min

John Emberger, RRT-ACCS, FAARC, CPHQMichael Benninghoff, DO, MS

ChristianaCare one of only nine health systems to receive the honor for three consecutive terms


For exceptional care in ensuring patients are able to easily breathe during their hospital stay, ChristianaCare has earned its third consecutive Apex Award in the Acute Hospital category.


Conferred by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC), the award recognizes ChristianaCare for its “exemplary demonstration of best practices in respiratory care.”



ChristianaCare is one of only 18 health systems nationwide to earn this award and one of just nine to receive the honor for at least three consecutive terms.


As a key component of hospital care, respiratory care is an important contributor to the overall quality and safety of a hospital. For patients and their families, ChristianaCare’s continuing recognition in this category is further reassurance that the health system’s quality is among the best in the nation.


“At ChristianaCare, we commit to being exceptional today and even better tomorrow,” said John S. Emberger, BS, RRT-AACS, FAARC, CPHQ, director of Respiratory Care at ChristianaCare. “This recognition belongs to all the respiratory therapists on our team. They are committed to following evidence-based practices and to ensuring that every action they take is safe. It’s a deep privilege to lead a team so committed to our organization’s core values of love and excellence.”


ChristianaCare’s respiratory team comprises nearly 150 caregivers who provide respiratory care within hospitals and outpatient settings and manage the mechanical ventilators and artificial airways used to help ICU patients breathe. To support continuous improvement, the team rigorously measures and tracks quality, patient satisfaction, safety and operational performance. That work has made an impact that extends beyond ChristianaCare; for example, the respiratory team’s success in standardizing practices to reduce infections and inflammations that can occur in patients on ventilators was published in the peer-reviewed journal Respiratory Care.


Another key ingredient to the team’s success has been its ability to attract and retain top talent. ChristianaCare’s respiratory department is set up with clinical career ladders that provide the opportunity for caregivers to broaden their skills and responsibilities through their participation in quality improvement projects.



“Our respiratory therapists are always seeking ways to improve and grow,” said Michael Benninghoff, DO, MS, section chief for Medical Critical Care, and the medical director of respiratory care at ChristianaCare. “They have played a significant role in helping our ICUs achieve excellent outcomes in caring for many of our sickest patients. They measure their performance and continuously look for ways to innovate.”


The Apex Recognition Award was developed in 2017 as a way for the AARC to recognize respiratory care departments that demonstrate high quality care.

“Respiratory care departments dedicate themselves to delivering excellent care for patients everywhere. They are a vital component to a patient’s care team, making a positive impact for the quality of patient care,” said AARC President Carl Hinkson, MSc, RRT, RRT-ACCS, RRT-NPS, FAARC. “Earning the Apex Recognition award is a tremendous honor. It shows how these teams reach high standards and bring their specialized skills to their health care colleagues. Congratulations to ChristianaCare as one of our 2023-2024 Apex Recognition Award recipients.”


Connect with:
John Emberger, RRT-ACCS, FAARC, CPHQ

John Emberger, RRT-ACCS, FAARC, CPHQ

Director of Respiratory Care

John Emberger is the respiratory therapist and the critical care coordinator for ChristianaCare’s Respiratory Department.

Respiratory CareCritical CareMechanical Ventilation
Michael Benninghoff, DO, MS

Michael Benninghoff, DO, MS

Section Chief for Medical Critical Care

Dr. Michael Benninghoff oversees one of the nation's leading and busiest hospital intensive care units.

PulmonologyCoronavirus treatmentCritical Care MedicineIntensive Care Medicine

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2 min

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5 min

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The proposed Delaware House Bill 350 is well-intended but would have terrible consequences for Delaware’s most vulnerable populations. There is a better way. By LeRoi S. Hicks, M.D., MPH, FACP As a Black physician who has dedicated his 25-year career to understanding and addressing health equity, I am deeply concerned about Delaware’s proposed House Bill 350, which aims to address rising health care costs by establishing a body of political appointees that would oversee the budgets of Delaware’s nonprofit hospitals. While the goal of bending the cost curve in health care may be well-intentioned, this bill will have horrific consequences for Delaware’s most vulnerable populations, including Black people, Hispanic people and other groups that have been traditionally underserved in health care. We can and must work together to solve this problem and provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time. 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The key to lowering health care costs is to improve quality, access and equity Data show that about 5% of patients in the United States account for more than 50% of all health care costs. These are primarily patients who have complex and poorly managed chronic conditions that cause them to end up in the most expensive care settings—hospitals, operating rooms, emergency departments. The key to driving down health care costs is to improve quality and equity so that everyone is supported in achieving their best health, and these high users of the most expensive kinds of care are better supported in managing their health conditions such as diabetes or heart failure in the appropriate way. In doing so, they prevent the need for costly emergency or “rescue” care. Let’s do more—not less—of what we already know works Health care is not a one-size-fits-all industry. The delivery of care for patients across a diverse population requires multiple interventions at the same time. These interventions are designed not only to improve the quality of care but also to close the gap in terms of health care disparities. That’s important, because when we improve care and outcomes for the most vulnerable populations, we tend to get things right for everyone. One type of intervention is about doing exactly the right things for a patient based on the evidence of what will help—and doing nothing extra that will cause harm or generate additional costs without providing additional benefit. An example of this might be ensuring that every patient who has a heart attack gets a certain drug called a beta blocker right after their heart attack, and they receive clear guidance and support on the actions they must take to reduce their risk of a second heart attack, such as regular exercise and good nutrition. The second type of intervention is for the highest-risk populations. These are patients who live in poor communities where there are no gyms and no grocery stores, and people commonly have challenges with transportation and lack of access to resources that makes it difficult—sometimes impossible—to follow their plan for follow-up care. They lack access to high-nutrient food that reduces their risk of a second heart attack. They also live in areas where there are fewer health care providers compared to more affluent areas. These interventions tend to be very intensive and do not generate income for health systems; in fact, they require significant non-reimbursed investment, but they are necessary to keep our most vulnerable patients healthy. The medical community has developed interventions for these populations that are proven to work. A local example is the Delaware Food Pharmacy program, which connects at-risk patients with healthy food and supports their ability to prepare it. 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House Bill 350 will widen the gap between those who have means and those who are more vulnerable. These changes will lead to increased disease burden on these populations. They will end up in the emergency room more and hospitalized more, which is by far the most expensive kind of care. That’s not what anyone wants—and it’s the opposite of what this bill was intended to accomplish. At this moment, in Delaware, we have an opportunity to put our state on a sustainable path to better health for all Delawareans. House Bill 350 is not that path. However, the discussion that House Bill 350 has started is something that we can build on by bringing together the stakeholders we need to collaborate with to solve these complicated problems. That includes Delaware’s government and legislators, the hospitals and health centers, the insurance, pharmacy and medical device industries, and most importantly, patients and the doctors who care for them. LeRoi Hicks, M.D., is the campus executive director for ChristianaCare, Wilmington Campus.

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