December 7, 1999
Harborview Receives Commendation from Joint Commission
Harborview Medical Center has received its three-year accreditation with the special designation of commendation from the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO). This is the highest rating that the JCAHO awards to health care organizations. Only 12 percent of the health care facilities surveyed each year receive this honor.
In making this award of commendation, JCAHO particularly noted Harborview’s efforts to provide health care to diverse populations and its multi-disciplinary performance-improvement process. Harborview is one of two hospitals in Washington to receive this special commendation during this past year.
“This is an outstanding accomplishment and the result of every employees hard work and commitment to Harborview,” said Executive Director/CEO David Jaffe. “We are proud to be recognized for the quality of care we are able to provide to the community.”
Harborview’s special JCAHO commendation comes on the heels of several other major awards that the medical center has received in the past six months:
The University Hospital Consortium has selected Harborview’s Emergency Department, Trauma Intensive Care Unit and Medical Intensive Care Unit as best performers among similar departments in 60 teaching hospitals across the U.S. The award cites such aspects of care delivery at Harborview as mortality rates, staff productivity and infection rates.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) named Harborview a finalist for its Foster S. McGaw prize for focusing on providing exemplary care to the medically underserved as the medical center’s priority-patient population. The AHA cited five programs in honoring Harborview as a finalist: the Sexual Assault Center and Eastside Sexual Assault Center for Children, Community House Calls for non-English speaking refugees, the Madison Clinic for HIV/AIDS patients, the Pioneer Square Clinic for the homeless, and Harborview’s SeniorCare outreach programs. The award, presented annually by the Baxter Foundation, is one of the most significant honors in the health-care field.
Seattle’s Alliance for Education gave Harborview an A+ Partner at Large Award for outstanding contributions to student academic achievement in the Seattle School District. The Alliance noted such innovative programs as the Cambodian Girls Project, Summer Youth Employment and Summer Junior Volunteers.
Several of Harborview’s programs and physicians, including neurological surgery, orthopaedics, AIDS treatment and rehabilitation medicine, are regularly cited in the U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals survey.
