SCH News

Hospital scores 96 on inspection

Ross Willis - Toccoa Record Online

Stephens County Hospital passed its Joint Commission survey and inspection with flying colors.

Hospital Administrator Ed Gambrell said that this was a phenomenal result with which he is very pleased.

“We are very happy with the results of the Joint Commission survey. We received a very high mark that many hospitals are not able to attain,” Gambrell said.

“We had a lot of our employees putting a lot of time, work and effort into getting ready for this survey. I am very proud of them,” he said.

Gambrell said that there are hundreds of standards that the Joint Commission bases their judgment upon, and that after all was said and done, Stephens County Hospital scored a 96 out of a possible 100 on the inspection.

The Joint Commission is a not-for-profit organization that is based in Chicago, Ill. This body ispects most U.S. hospitals, as well as numerous facilities in other countries, to ensure that important quality standards are met.

Any given hospital is inspected by the Joint Commission every three years, Gambrell said.

“Hospitals use the accreditation issued by the Joint Commission as a bench mark to insure that they are meeting the stringent quality standards necessary for consumers and purchasers of health care,” Gambrell said.

“Many PPO contracts require that a hospital be accredited by the Joint Commission. Medicare accepts the accreditation as a seal of approval, so they do not have to personally inspect the hospital already accredited by the Joint Commission,” he said.

The hospital administrator said that the preliminary score of 96 will stand until the facility receives the final, official score from the organization in approximately 45 days. However, he believes that the score will be pretty accurate, as the Joint Commission inspectors now use lap top computers during the inspection to score their findings.

“We fully expect that the score of 96 will be pretty close to the mark. After the Joint Commission computes its final tally, the score should stand as a 96, and if not, it will only vary by maybe one point,” Gambrell said.

“This was a rigorous inspection that everyone at Stephens County Hospital passed phenomenally well. I am so proud of them all. Without the help and dedication of our staff, we could not have done as well,” he said.

Article Copyright© 2002 - The Toccoa Record Online. Reprinted with permission.