Joint Commission awards Wilford Hall full accreditation Published June 30, 2007 By Sue Campbell 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- Wilford Hall Medical Center was recently granted full accreditation from The Joint Commission for both their hospital and home health programs. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 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. The commission surveyed WHMC in March, conducting an extensive onsite review of Wilford Hall's performance in all areas that affect the safety and quality of patient care, comparing it to their standards and elements of performance requirements. At the conclusion of their survey, the commission cited Wilford Hall with ten requirements for improvement. In response to these findings, WHMC launched an extensive review and pulled together a collaborative team of experts. This team authored a response, addressing the 10 RFI's with four clarifications, or rebuttals, and six definitive corrective action plans. As a result, the Joint Commission overturned and removed the four clarified RFIs and accepted the remainder of the corrective plans with no further follow-up necessary. The surveyors praised WHMC's staff for their total commitment to the highest quality of patient care, recognizing the 59th Medical Wing for the teamwork and clinical expertise evident in its performance improvement activities. "This emphasizes the importance of always looking for ways to make things better and safer for our staff and patients," said Lt. Col. Kimberly Coltman, director of accreditation and compliance for the 59th MDW. "There are programs and processes that are currently being improved upon and I encourage all Wilford Hall staff to step up to assist in our performance improvement initiatives. We will also continue to sustain and exceed our current operations tempo of compliance reviews and tracers to ensure continuous compliance with The Joint Commission standards."