Blowing Rock Hospital Is Awarded Joint Commission Gold Seal

By demonstrating compliance with the Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety, Blowing Rock Hospital has earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval .
Founded in 1951, the Joint Commission is dedicated to continually improving the safety and quality of the nation’s health care through voluntary accreditation. During 2006, the Joint Commission surveyed Blowing Rock Hospital’s Critical Access Hospital, Home Care program, Laboratory and Long Term Care Facility, with each of these services receiving an unconditional approval. According to Jeffrey Prewitt, Director of Quality Excellence, “our re-accreditation is a result of our continuous process to ensure quality patient care. I can think of no better reward for our staff than to be acknowledged by the foremost national hospital quality organization.”
“Above all, the national standards are intended to stimulate continuous, systematic and organization-wide improvement in an organization’s performance and the outcomes of care,” says Darlene Christiansen, executive director, Hospital Accreditation Program, Joint Commission. “The community should be proud that Blowing Rock Hospital is focusing on this most challenging goal – to continuously raise quality and safety to higher levels.”
In order to most accurately survey healthcare organizations in terms of their normal day-to-day routines, Joint Commission’s surveys are unannounced, other than informing the organization it will be surveyed sometime within a twelve month period. Each of Blowing Rock Hospital’s surveys during 2006 was unannounced. These included the survey of Blowing Rock Hospital’s Laboratory in August 2006, and the Critical Access Hospital, Home Care and Long Term Care in November 2006.
Critical Access Hospitals are surveyed every three years by the Joint Commission while Home Care, Laboratory and Long Term Care surveys are conducted every two years.
The Laboratory Department of Blowing Rock Hospital holds a separate JCAHO Accreditation Certificate. Laboratory Director, Sandy Devirgiliis Shore, states, Having this accreditation, ensures that the Blowing Rock Hospital Laboratory has qualified, well trained medical technologists on staff who provide accurate testing results.”
Roberta Marvin, Director of Nursing, noted, “Of the eight Joint Commission visits I have participated in, this one was the most patient centered.”
According to Linda Bretz, Director of Community Outreach, “Home Care’s survey by the Joint Commission’s survey demonstrates the provision of quality care. Not only was our survey a good opportunity to review our policy and procedures, but to learn what is occurring as standard practice at other Home Care organizations as well.”
Blowing Rock Hospital is an independent, Joint Commission certified, nonprofit healthcare organization dedicated to providing care to the people of western North Carolina, particularly the geriatric population.