October 8, 2014 |

AHCA/NCAL gives Gold Awards

Six care centers were honored with 2014 Gold – Excellence in Quality Awards from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) today at the closing session of the organization’s annual meeting. The competitive award program recognizes centers across the nation judged to have met rigorous standards and as serving as models of excellence in providing high-quality long-term care.

The six award winners join only 18 gold award winners named in the history of the program.

“At this level, centers must show superior performance in several areas, including customer and staff satisfaction and engagement. I’m proud to say that this year’s recipients have achieved this significant milestone and stand among the very best in the nation,” said Ed McMahon, PhD, chairman of the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Board of Overseers. “I commend them all for their commitment and dedication to the quality journey.”

McMahon himself received the Mary K. Ousley Champion of Quality Award from AHCA/NCAL this year.

The Gold Award recipients:

Altercare of Louisville Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing Care, Inc., Louisville, Ohio;
Glen Hill Center, Danbury, Conn.;
Golden LivingCenter–St. James, Saint James, Mo.;
Oregon Veterans’ Home, the Dalles, Ore.;
South Davis Community Hospital, Bountiful, Utah; and
Stonebrook Healthcare Center, Concord, Calif.

The Gold – Excellence in Quality Award is the most prestigious of AHCA/NCAL’s three-level awards program. Winners previously must have achieved both the Bronze – Commitment to Quality and Silver – Achievement in Quality awards and adhere to the criteria outlined in the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. The Gold Award is designed to elicit best practices from recipients in the areas of leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, process management and results. Since the inception of the National Quality Award Program in 1996, only 24 care centers have achieved this level of recognition from AHCA/NCAL (including this year's winners).

AHCA/NCAL also celebrated this year's named heroes and volunteers at the closing ceremony, and NCAL recognized four previously announced award winners.

The organization announced the 397 winners of its Bronze – Commitment to Quality award and the 77 winners of its Silver – Achievement in Quality award earlier this year, and those recipients also were honored during the annual meeting.

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