Berkshire Healthcare Facilities Earn National Recognition
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This year 701 nursing homes and assisted living communities from across the nation applied for the Bronze Quality Award and Fairview Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Great Barrington, Hillcrest Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Pittsfield, Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center and PineHill Assisted Living at Kimball Farms in Lenox, and Williamstown Nursing and Rehabilitation, were among 456 organizations to receive the award. The award will be presented to these facilities during AHCA/NCAL’s 61st Annual Convention and Exposition, Oct.10-13 in Long Beach, Calif..
“The commitment to quality designated by this award is a key first step to developing systematic, sustainable, person-centered care and services,” stated Bruce Yarwood, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL.
Implemented by AHCA/NCAL in 1996, the National Quality Award Program is based on the core values and criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program. It provides a pathway for providers of long term and post-acute care services to journey towards performance excellence. Facilities begin their quality journey at the Bronze level where they are asked to develop an organizational profile including vision and mission statements, an awareness of their environment and customers’ expectations. Bronze applicants are also asked to demonstrate their ability to improve a process. At the Bronze level, formerly know as the Step I Award, applications are reviewed by Examiners who have received special training to qualify as judges for the award program.
“The achievements of these Berkshire Healthcare facilities are a testament to our dedicated staff members, who have shown a clear commitment to providing the highest possible level of care and quality of life for our residents, patients and their families,” said Berkshire Healthcare Executive Vice President Bill Jones.
Fairview Commons, Hillcrest Commons, Kimball Farms, PineHill Assisted Living and Williamstown Commons may now move forward in developing approaches and achieving performance levels that meet the criteria required for the Silver - Achievement in Quality award. The final step in the journey is the Gold – Excellence in Quality award which requires them to address the Baldrige Program’s Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence in its entirety.
The awards are sponsored by AHCA/NCAL Associate Business Member McKesson Medical-Surgical, a leading distributor of medical supplies and equipment to physician practices, surgery centers, hospitals, home care, and extended care facilities, and My InnerView, a Web-based applied research and quality-management company that supports leaders across the entire assisted living, senior housing and skilled nursing profession with tools to measure, benchmark and improve performance.
Berkshire Healthcare Systems, Inc. is a mid-size healthcare and senior-services company, and is the largest non-profit, long term care company in Massachusetts. Berkshire Healthcare operates 16 rehabilitation and nursing facilities (14 in Massachusetts, one in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania), including Kimball Farms, a life care retirement community in Lenox, Massachusetts.
