Halifax Regional Medical Center has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Hospital Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards.

The Gold Seal of Approval is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care.

Halifax Regional underwent a rigorous, unannounced onsite survey in August.

During the review, a team of Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated compliance with hospital standards related to several areas, including emergency management, environment of care, infection prevention and control, leadership, and medication management.

Surveyors also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

The Joint Commission has accredited hospitals for more than 60 years.

More than 4,000 general, children’s, long-term acute, psychiatric, rehabilitation and specialty hospitals currently maintain accreditation from The Joint Commission, awarded for a three-year period. In addition, approximately 360 critical access hospitals maintain accreditation through a separate program.

“Joint Commission accreditation provides hospitals with the processes needed to improve in a variety of areas from the enhancement of staff education to the improvement of daily business operations,” said Mark G. Pelletier, chief operating officer for the Division of Accreditation and Certification Operations of The Joint Commission. “In addition, our accreditation helps hospitals enhance their risk management and risk reduction strategies. We commend Halifax Regional for its efforts to become a quality improvement organization.”

“We are pleased to again receive accreditation from The Joint Commission, the principal health care quality improvement and accrediting body in the nation,” said Halifax Regional President and CEO Will Mahone. “Staff from across the organization continue to work together to develop and implement approaches that have the potential to improve care for the patients in our community.”

The Joint Commission’s hospital standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients.

The standards are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help hospitals measure, assess and improve performance.