Mat-Su Regional Hospital earns stringent accreditation

PALMER — Mat-Su Regional Medical Center has again earned The Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval, demonstrating a commitment to excellence in providing quality care and ongoing compliance with rigorous standards.

Mat-Su Regional voluntarily undergoes The Joint Commission accreditation process, which involves extensive, unannounced surveys every two years. During a recent unannounced site visit, the hospital and its laboratory underwent in-depth surveys to achieve re-accreditation.

“Approval from The Joint Commission is the gold standard in the health care industry — an internationally recognized symbol of health care quality,” said John Lee, the hospital’s chief executive officer. “It is a challenging accreditation to achieve and maintain, and evidence of our commitment to the Palmer community. This accreditation gives us the ability to say we’re one of the best.”

Lee, who has been a hospital administrator for more than a year and has been involved with dozens of commission surveys, said Mat-Su Regional’s performance on this latest survey is the best he has seen.

“Our hospital and the medical staff take this very seriously, and we continually review and implement processes to improve the quality and safety of your care for our patients,” he said. “To do this well on a Joint Commission survey is a tribute to their skill, experience and dedication to always doing what’s in the best interest of patients.”

The hospital is re-surveyed every three years in a process that begins with an unannounced survey. The team of Joint Commission surveyors arrived unannounced April 8 and spent four days evaluating the hospital for compliance with standards of care specific to the needs of patients, including infection prevention and control, leadership and medication management. The accreditation process encompasses thousands of quality and safety measures in various hospital departments and helps promote continuous, systematic improvement among health care organizations.

The laboratory is an integral part of the hospital and patient care services. It is accredited separately and is surveyed every two years. Mat-Su Regional’s laboratory earned reaccreditation by demonstrating compliance with national standards.