SambaCare, a New Jersey based Healthcare staffing firm, achieved a major industry milestone by earning Joint Commission Healthcare Staffing Certification on August 4th, 2023. SambaCare partners with health care organizations across the country to offer high quality staffing. The organization started their certification preparedness journey at the beginning of 2023.
“A lot of effort and energy goes into the process leading up to certification,” SambaCare's Chief Operating Officer Sam Zytman said. “This is something we can now proudly present to potential clients and exhibit on our website and in marketing materials.”
One of the biggest changes to the organization’s culture of quality and safety, Zytman said, was the credentialing process.
“We tightened all the screws and made sure everything was being adhered to with the strictest compliance standards, across all departments, whether it was HR, recruiting or staffing,” Zytman said.
The Joint Commission standards focus on quality and safety. The certification readiness process allowed SambaCare leaders to focus their efforts on new challenges as they embraced a companywide continuous quality improvement process.
The Joint Commission certification process holds organizations accountable to higher standards for both quality and safety. Zytman described the benefits in creating an improved performance evaluation tool so as to better assess employees and ensure the best care for patients and residents.
“It does require a lot of extra work, but the end result of the certification process allows you to feel more confident signing contracts with various high-level clients that you can fulfill their requirements.” Zytman said.
SambaCare is Achieve Accreditation’s first healthcare staffing client partner. Achieve Accreditation’s Vice Presidents Kristin Bratcher and Kerri Hackstock organized and led SambaCare’s certification readiness process.
“I am very excited about entering this new scope of work with healthcare staffing services (HCSS),” Hackstock said. “As agency staffing continues to grow in the industry, companies like SambaCare will make important strategic decisions to improve their safety and quality companywide. Joint Commission Certification was the best way for SambaCare to prove their quality by having third-party validation for their company with the nation's leader in quality, The Joint Commission.”
Jessica Prucha, BAJ is the Operations Manager and Brand Storyteller at Achieve Accreditation. Achieve Accreditation has helped skilled nursing providers and assisted living organizations to obtain and maintain their Joint Commission Accreditation for 35 years.
Ignite Medical Resorts Adams Parc was the first skilled nursing organization in the state of Oklahoma to earn the prestigious Joint Commission Accreditation award. The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest health care accrediting body. There has been a 70% national increase in skilled nursing organizations obtaining Joint Commission accreditation in the last five years.
Ignite Medical Resorts wants the best for their patients/residents, their staff, and their community. Obtaining Joint Commission accreditation for Ignite Medical Resorts Adams Parc was the most significant way they could demonstrate their strong commitment to quality, safety, and continuous quality improvement.
“Obtaining Joint Commission accreditation is the highest pinnacle of recognition in the skilled nursing industry,” CEO Tim Fields said. “This is the reason we chose to hold ourselves accountable to the highest expectations in the nation."
Ignite Medical Resorts Adams Parc leadership staff prepared for The Joint Commission survey over a period of six-months General Manager Revel Castillo-Simon and CNO Shelby Garrison said. The organization approached the accreditation process with the help of Achieve Accreditation. Achieve Accreditation guided Adams Parc leadership staff to focus on the standards that were most frequently surveyed and broke larger milestones into smaller goals.
Achieve Accreditation’s Senior Consultant Suzann Armstrong worked tirelessly with the leadership staff at Adams Parc to provide customized accreditation readiness resources and guidance. It was truly an interdisciplinary effort with all team members investing in the important task of improving all that they do.
“Suzann was at our fingertips the entire way through everything,” Castillo-Simon said. “She guided us on every single detail.”
One thing that surprised General Manager Castillo-Simon the most was the meticulous nature of both the standards and the survey process. The accreditation readiness process pushed the organization to complete tasks that had been long-standing on their “to do” list. The team also reported that the surveyor was very compassionate and truly invested in catching them doing something right rather than something wrong, helping them with suggestions to improve, and genuinely wanted the best for their organization. Staff reported that it is always stressful preparing for a survey and the unknowns of a survey experience, but that it was honestly the best survey they could have asked for.
Ignite Medical Resorts Adams Parc is taking their moment in the spotlight to celebrate this huge accomplishment. While staff catch their breath to celebrate, they are forward focused in fully embracing the power of the Joint Commission standards to supercharge their already existing organization quality improvement culture.
Kathleen O’Connor, MA is President & Founder of Achieve Accreditation. Achieve Accreditation has helped skilled nursing providers and assisted living organizations to obtain and maintain their Joint Commission Accreditation for over 30 years.
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Arely Franco is a Senior Consultant celebrating a ten-year career in the health care field. She is passionate about person-centered care and quality of life for residents. Arely has spent her professional career in the skilled nursing industry in advancing leadership roles. She holds a master's degree in Social Work and she is a licensed clinical social worker. Arely began working with Achieve Accreditation in 2017.
Arely’s passion for working with older adults prompted her to work in the skilled nursing industry. She appreciates the opportunity consulting provides to impact the skilled nursing industry on a larger scale by assisting clients in maintaining a safe and supportive environment.
“The nursing home industry is a tight-knit community and it’s amazing to see everyone come together to serve the older adult population,” Arely said. “I feel fortunate to be a part of the community through Achieve Accreditation.”
Arely’s favorite part of working as a consultant is getting to meet a variety of people across different skilled nursing home settings and communities, as well as working on a wide range of projects.
“I enjoy the different projects that I get to work on and the challenges that come along,” Arely said. “They are all unique which gives me the opportunity to continue to develop my expertise in the industry.”
Vice President of Achieve Accreditation Kerri Hackstock appreciates Arely’s detail-oriented approach to working with clients.
“She is not afraid to roll up her sleeves and assist her clients in any way possible,” Kerri said.
Outside of work, Arely enjoys spending time outdoors, reading and listening to podcasts. Her bucket list includes riding in a hot air balloon and seeing the northern lights in Iceland. Arely said spending time with family and friends is the most important thing to her.
Jessica Prucha, BAJ is the Operations Manager at Achieve Accreditation. Achieve Accreditation has helped skilled nursing providers and assisted living organizations to obtain and maintain their Joint Commission Accreditation for over 30 years.