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FORT IRWIN, Calif. -- Staff members of the Weed Army Community Hospital (WACH) Blue Team at the Dr. Mary E. Walker Center (MEWC) recently took time out to celebrate accreditation results of a recent Joint Commission survey Mar. 4 at a special staff luncheon.
Service members and civilian staff members alike throughout the WACH were also pleased and gratified at the results at the findings of the Joint Commission recently released accrediting MEDDAC facilities and personnel at Fort Irwin and WACH facilities in Yuma, Arizona.
The U.S. Army Medical Department Activity Fort Irwin and Yuma Army Health Clinic hosted the Joint Commission survey team Feb. 17-19, and received full accreditation for three years. Joint Commission on-site surveys are designed to be organization-specific, consistent and to support an organization's efforts to improve performance and an organization can have an unannounced survey between 18 and 36 months after its previous full survey.
The purpose of the Joint Commission site visit and survey -- which is unannounced - ensures medical facilities meet national patient safety goals and provide quality care and safety. Survey results are used to determine whether, and the conditions under which, accreditation should be awarded a medical organization. The Joint Commission is the oldest and largest healthcare standards-setting and accrediting body in the United States.
The survey is data-driven, patient-centered and focused on evaluating actual care processes.
The independent commission evaluates and accredits nearly 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. The Department of Defense, in the desire to maintain the highest possible care for its beneficiaries, mandates that all military medical treatment facilities participate in the accreditation process.
"The Joint Commission visit is something that has immense importance to us at the WACH." said WACH Commander Col. Jason Wieman. "The standards are high and uncompromising. Our staff - not just these 40 members of the Blue Team here at the MEWC, but the approximately five hundred MEDDAC employees serving throughout our organization here [at Fort Irwin] and in Yuma rightly deserve to celebrate the results of the survey and our accreditation. It was hard work and I'm very proud of their achievements." Wieman said.
"The purpose of the survey, focus on detail and close scrutiny is not only so they can evaluate the organization," said WACH Chief of Quality Services Maj. Wendy Lai. "It also provides education and best- practice guidance that helps our staff continually improve the WACH's already excellent performance." she said. "You don't just achieve high quality care, treatment and service to patients and then rest on your laurels. It takes an ongoing commitment to being the best you can be."
At the conclusion of the inspection, the Joint Commission issued a report listing the Requirements for Improvement, which are areas where an organization must respond with corrective action plans.
Of the 550 exacting standards that the medical center was graded on there were less than a dozen findings at the WACH and one the highest scores the WACH had achieved since its opening in 1968.
ABOUT THE JOINT COMMISSION
The Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization's commitment to meeting certain medical performance standards.
According to its website, the mission of the Joint Commission is to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value.
Since 1951, the Joint Commission has developed and updated numerous state-of-the-art, professionally based standards and has evaluated the compliance of health care organizations against these benchmarks.
To learn more about the people and facilities of the Weed Army Community Hospital and the National Training Center at Fort Irwin visit the official NTC website at www.irwin.amedd.army.mil.
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