March 5, 2001

The John Dempsey Hospital at the UConn Health Center recently received accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, the leading health care accrediting body in the world.

A team of health care professionals from the Joint Commission spent several days at the Health Center in December. All hospital services and mental health hospital-based and partial-hospitalization programs demonstrated compliance with the Joint Commission's rigorous, nationally recognized standards.

"Above all, the national standards are intended to stimulate continuous, systematic and organization-wide improvement in an organization's performance and outcomes of care," said Russell P. Massaro, executive vice president, accrediting operations, for the Joint Commission. "The community should be proud that John Dempsey Hospital is focusing on the most challenging goal - to continuously raise quality to higher levels."

Steven Strongwater, hospital director, said "The physicians and staff at John Dempsey Hospital are very pleased with the results of our recent Joint Commission accreditation site visit. It is so satisfying to receive high scores, that help acknowledge the accomplishments of all who work here to provide high quality, personalized care. We are indeed fortunate to have such a talented workforce and hospital systems that work so effectively together."

The Joint Commission is an independent, non-profit organization committed to improving the quality of care provided to the public. Since 1951, it has worked with health care experts, providers, researchers, purchasers and consumers to develop the industry's highest standards for health care delivery. The Joint Commission accredits more than 18,000 health care organizations nationwide.

Maureen McGuire