MDH Receives Reaccreditation from The Joint Commission

MACOMB, Ill. – Surveyors from The Joint Commission arrived for their unannounced triennial four-day survey at McDonough District Hospital from January 10-13. With the final report announced recently from The Joint Commission, MDH officially ended with a 99 percent grade.

McDonough District Hospital and MDH Home Health Care and Hospice earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval®. MDH demonstrated continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a healthcare organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care.

MDH underwent a rigorous onsite evaluation by a team of Joint Commission reviewers. During the visit, MDH was evaluated on 1,600-plus standards, and received just 19 notations ranging in the low to moderate range, and zero findings in the high frequency or high harm categories. Of those 19, six were corrected immediately during the evaluation.

Some comments from the surveyors included:

• “You are all doing a fantastic job.”
• “We only see a hospital maybe once every five years that performed as well as you have on their survey.”
• “This Hospital is hitting on all cylinders.”
• “We found no process failures.”
• “We felt a sense of community.”
• “We were very impressed with the Emergency Preparedness and Life Safety groups.”
• “The clinics were clean, organized, and the staff was great to work with.”
• “You have a couple good practices, we noted those should be published.”
• “Care planning and documentation (related to Home Health and Hospice), the visits went really well.”
• “The Monmouth Clinic visit – Well Done.”
• “The staff was very complimentary of leadership.”

“MDH strives to maintain a state of continual survey readiness, which was evident during our recent accreditation survey,” said Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer Wanda Foster, RN, MSN, FACHE. “This is a full team effort and every area, department, and workflow reviewed during the survey was presented in a very professional manner, showcasing our work in quality, excellence in patient care and commitment to patient safety.”

The Joint Commission’s standards are developed in consultation with healthcare experts and providers, measurement experts, and patients. They are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help healthcare organizations measure, assess, and improve performance. The surveyors also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

“As a healthcare accreditor, The Joint Commission works with organizations across settings to help improve patient safety and quality of care through our expert resources and tools, innovative solutions and rigorous standards,” said Deborah Ryan, MS, RN, interim Executive Vice President Accreditation and Certification Operations, The Joint Commission. “We commend McDonough District Hospital for its commitment to advance safety and quality for all patients.”

ABOUT THE JOINT COMMISSION: The mission of The Joint Commission is to continuously improve healthcare for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating healthcare organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. We do this by setting quality standards, evaluating an organization’s performance, and providing an interactive educative experience that provides innovative solutions and resources to support continuous improvement. The Joint Commission is the only accreditor that develops state-of-the-art standards essential to providing safe, high-quality care serving as the basis of an objective evaluation process that can help organizations measure, assess, and improve performance. The Joint Commission is also the only accreditor that accredits and certifies across the continuum of care, including flexible and varied certifications for any disease, condition, or procedure.