TJC Accreditation
In 1997, the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC), a branch of the federal government, rolled out a new program entitled the “Accreditation Initiative” in an effort to encourage community health centers (CHCs) to become more competitive in a changing healthcare environment and develop an ongoing quality improvement foundation. In 2000, North County Health Services received its first official Joint Commission Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Since that time, NCHS continues to be JCAHO-accredited with the most recent accreditation survey completed in 2009. In 2007, JCAHO changed its name to The Joint Commission (TJC). Since only about 5% of community health centers have become TJC accredited nationwide, NCHS is truly part of an elite group of CHCs!
TJC provides a number of quality standards that NCHS must integrate into its processes and the TJC survey is a way to acknowledge how well the organization has succeeded. Because the emphasis of these standards is patient care, the accreditation program enables TJC to provide public acknowledgment of NCHS’ excellence in quality of care. NCHS staff and volunteers are dedicated to providing safe, high-quality care and through the accreditation process TJC partners in this vision.