Pennsylvania Hospital Awarded
Joint Commission Accreditation and Top-tier Reviews
from PA State Department of Health
October, 2003
(Philadelphia, PA) - Pennsylvania Hospital, located
in the historic Society Hill district of Philadelphia,
has achieved the Gold Seal of Approval™
for health care quality for both hospital and
behavioral health care accreditation from the
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations. The award of accreditation is for
a three-year period and means Pennsylvania Hospital
has demonstrated compliance with national standards
for patient safety and quality of care.
Over the course of four days, both the Hospital
and Hall Mercer, its Behavioral Health Services
Center, were evaluated by a team of Joint Commission
surveyors against a set of national standards
intended to stimulate continuous, systematic,
and organization-wide improvement in a hospital’s
performance and its outcomes of care. The survey
resulted in a score of 96 (out of 100) for Pennsylvania
Hospital and 97 for Hall Mercer.
“During their visit, members of the Survey
team commented time and time again on the extraordinary
level of cooperation, dedication and teamwork
exemplified by our staff and physicians,”
said Timothy Morgan, Executive Director. “It
is this collegiality and our staff’s unending
desire to provide excellent patient care that
makes Pennsylvania Hospital such a exceptional
place for patients, physicians, and employees.”
In addition to the Joint Commission Survey, the
Pennsylvania Department of Health conducts a residual
survey to assess compliance with Department of
Health regulations usually not included in the
Joint Commission Survey. Unlike the Joint Commission,
the Department of Health does not score facilities.
Instead, after examination, the State provides
the institution with a formal, written review,
which includes findings of areas in need of improvement.
The State survey resulted in top-tier reviews
for Pennsylvania Hospital with no adverse findings.
Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's
first -- was founded in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin
and Dr. Thomas Bond. Today, the 515-bed acute
care facility offers a full-range of diagnostic
and therapeutic medical services and is a major
teaching and clinical research institution. Awarded
the Gold Seal of Approval™ for health care
quality by the Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations, Pennsylvania Hospital
has a national reputation in orthopaedics, cardiac
care, vascular surgery, neurosurgery, otorhinolaryngology
(ENT) and urology, as well as obstetrics, high-risk
maternal and fetal services, neonatology, and
behavioral health. The Hospital campus also includes
specialty treatment centers such as the Joan Karnell
Cancer Center, the Center for Bloodless Medicine
and Surgery, and the Penn Neurological Institute.
The hospital has over 21,000 inpatient and 197,000
outpatient admissions each year, including over
4,200 births. Pennsylvania Hospital is part of
the University of Pennsylvania Health System and
is located in the historic Society Hill district
of Philadelphia.
The Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations, founded in 1951, seeks to continuously
improve the safety and quality of care provided
to the public through the provision of health
care accreditation and related services that support
performance improvement in health care organizations.
An independent, not-for-profit organization, The
Joint Commissions is the nation’s oldest
and largest standards-setting and accrediting
body in health care. It evaluates and accredits
nearly 17,000 health care organizations and programs
in the United States, including approximately
9,000 hospitals and home care organizations, and
8,000 other health care organizations that provide
long term care, assisted living, behavior health
care, laboratory and ambulatory care services.
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