Cincinnati (July 30, 2015) – The Christ Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Advanced Certification for Palliative Care, a quality program that focuses on achieving optimum care for patients with serious illnesses. The Gold Seal of Approval® is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care. The Christ Hospital is the first recognized palliative care program in the region.
The Christ Hospital underwent a rigorous on-site review in June. Joint Commission experts evaluated compliance with national palliative care standards built on the National Consensus Project’s Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care and the National Quality Forum’s National Framework and Preferred Practices for Palliative and Hospice Quality Care.
Established in 2011, The Joint Commission’s Advanced Certification for Palliative Care, awarded for a two-year period, recognizes organizations that demonstrate exceptional patient and family-centered care in order to optimize the quality of life for patients with serious illnesses.
"The Christ Hospital has the most comprehensive palliative care program in the Greater Cincinnati area,” said Jason Schenck, RN, MSN, NE-BC , executive director of the Comprehensive Medicine Service Line. “We are pleased to receive advanced certification from The Joint Commission, the premier health care quality improvement and accrediting body in the nation. The certification recognizes hospital inpatient programs and helps to further promote and advance the field of palliative care, ultimately improving the care for persons living with serious illness.”
The Christ Hospital Palliative Care Service provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary and compassionate care focused on relieving suffering and improving quality of life for patients and families coping with serious illness. Palliative Care reflects The Christ Hospital’s commitment to patient and family centered care.
“Our Palliative Care team focuses on treating patients and families with dignity and respect, information sharing, participation and collaboration,” said Palliative Care Physician Doug Smucker, MD, The Christ Hospital Physicians. “Through this service, we hope to empower patients and families to make healthcare decisions with peace of mind.”
“The Christ Hospital has thoroughly demonstrated a high level of care for patients with serious illnesses,” said Michele Sacco, M.S., executive director, Palliative Care and Health Care Staffing Certification, The Joint Commission. “We commend The Christ Hospital for becoming a leader in palliative care and addressing patients’ physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs as well as facilitating patient autonomy, access to information and choice.”
About The Christ Hospital Health Network: The Christ Hospital Health Network is an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn with five ambulatory centers and 181 neighborhood offices conveniently located throughout the Greater Cincinnati area. Its mission is to improve the health of the community and to create patient value by providing exceptional outcomes, affordable care and the finest experiences. Led by the region’s Most Preferred Hospital (National Research Corporation) for 19 consecutive years, the network is dedicated to transforming care by delivering integrated, individualized healthcare and wellness services through its comprehensive physician network and advanced specialty service. The Christ Hospital is among only 6% of hospitals in the nation to be awarded Magnet recognition for nursing excellence and among the top 5% of hospitals in the country for patient satisfaction. For more than 125 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to all those it serves.
About The Joint Commission: Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks 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. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including hospitals and health care organizations that provide ambulatory and office-based surgery, behavioral health, home health care, laboratory and nursing care center services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. The Joint Commission has two nonprofit affiliate organizations: The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare aims to solve health care’s most critical safety and quality problems and Joint Commission Resources (JCR) provides consulting services, educational services and publications. Joint Commission International, a division of JCR, accredits and certifies international health care organizations. Learn more about The Joint Commission at
www.jointcommission.org.