By Kalvin D. Perron
Staff Reporter
BAY MILLS &mdash A survey team from the Commission for Rehabilitation Accreditation (CARF) will be visiting the premises of the Bay Mills Health Center in the Ellen Marshall Building on July 29 and 30. The surveyors will be evaluating how well the services provided meet the international standards of quality. If all goes well, the health center will continue to earn CARF accreditation through September 2007.
The Bay Mills Health Center's two programs, Alcohol and Other Drug Programs, Children and Adolescent, and Adult Outpatient Treatment; and Mental Health Programs, Children, Adolescent, and Adult Outpatient Treatment, were initially awarded a 3-year accreditation by CARF in September of 2001. Their accreditation is set to expire on September 30.
“An accreditation by CARF guarantees a high level of quality for our programs,” said Mental Health Therapist Phil Jones. “Their teams survey many other clinics. An accreditation by them lets everyone know we meet the highest standards.”
“Our staff has worked hard to maintain quality services and to enhance our services as much as possible,” said Char Hewitt, Q.I. Coordinator for the health center. Hewitt said that the staff conducts yearly patient surveys, as well as community needs assessment surveys every other year to make sure the needs of everyone are being met.
“The community has responded really well,” she said, noting that they received almost a 100 percent response from the community in their last survey.
CARF surveyors will be interviewing people who use the Health Center's services and their families, as well as staff and others. They will be following a conformance checklist to make sure all the services provided meet their standards of quality.
Since CARF's main objective is to improve the quality of the services delivered to people with disabilities and others in need of rehabilitation, they will be looking for quality improvement and accountability in managing delivery of care, achieving improved life status of those being served, delivering services at a reasonable cost, measuring results, and communicating results.
According to Mental Health Therapist Melissa Hagen, the staff at the health center have continued to operate at the highest level of standards that merited their first accreditation. “They [CARF] will see that we are still providing the same quality services and are working hard to maintain our excellence.”
Mental Health Intake Worker Shelly LeBlanc, whose dedication to providing and maintaining an exceptionally accessible facility and programs garnered the center an “exemplary status” comment from CARF the first time around, said, “Our basic goal is to make sure that the needs of all our clients are addressed and that those with special needs are provided with every resource available.”
Hewitt noted that one of the most positive aspects of the community's health and human Services is their “wrap-around care environment,” which includes the coordination and collaboration of the different organizations and departments.
Jones added, “We have a more effective system here because we do not stand alone. All the separate departments, as well as the surrounding community, working together allow us to provide better support.”
The Bay Mills Health Center staff, who are also accredited through the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), are aware of the credibility that comes with being accredited through an organization such as CARF.
“Everyone recognizes our accreditation through CARF because it shows that we are committed to bringing quality services to the community,” said Health and Human Services Director Laurel Keenan. “It is especially helpful when applying for grants and for obtaining or receiving third party reimbursement.”
Since their first accreditation by CARF three years ago, the health center has added another program — Outpatient Services and Substance Abuse Referral and Assessment. Substance Abuse Counselor Audrey Breakie was instrumental in the formation of this program.
Breakie said that community members are encouraged to participate in the evaluation and that their feedback is very important in the accreditation process. “We are constantly looking for ways to improve our services. We want to hear your suggestions and comments, and so does CARF.”
Anyone interested in speaking with the behavioral health CARF accreditation team can stop by the health center in the Ellen Marshall Building on July 29, and 30.
