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March 12, 2008

HRMC passes Joint Commission inspection

Haywood Regional Medical Center’s accreditation was continued Wednesday following a day-long unannounced visit by a representative from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

“Joint Commission was here with cause related to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services termination of our funding contract,” said Eileen Lipham, HRMC vice president of professional services.

Joint Commission standards address the hospital’s performance in specific areas, and specify requirements to ensure that patient care is provided in a safe manner and in a secure environment. The Joint Commission develops its standards in consultation with health care experts, providers and researchers, as well as measurement experts, purchasers and consumers.

“There were a couple of recommendations, but these were already issues being addressed in our corrective action plan. We were told that we’re on the right path,” Lipham said.

The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.

Haywood Regional was last accredited in January 2006. The hospital was not due for another accreditation survey until April 2009.

“I am very pleased that our JCAHO accreditation is reaffirmed,” said HRMC interim CEO Al Byers. “I have great confidence in our staff and our physicians. I want to emphasize that I firmly believe our process of restoring CMS recertification will result in a stronger, healthier HRMC. At this time I also want to emphasize that HRMC’s first responsibility is our patients — to provide the highest level of patient care. We believe that the outcome of this process will result in a model community hospital.”

Haywood Regional Medical Center was established in 1927. The current facility opened in 1979. HRMC is a not-for-profit public hospital. It is the third largest employer in Haywood County, with more than 900 employees. For more information, go to www.haymed.org.