Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center has earned The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval.

The Joint Commission is a national accrediting organization for hospitals, and BCHHC earned the Gold Seal of Approval by demonstrating compliance with federal regulatory standards for health care quality and safety.

"We believe The Joint Commission accreditation process is valuable because it is a way for us to demonstrate our commitment to patient safety and quality care," said Tom Sommers, chief executive officer of BCHHC. "Seeking this accreditation is voluntary and we do it because we want our patients to know we are following safe practices and meeting national standards of care."

To earn the Gold Seal of Approval, The Joint Commission conducts an unannounced on-site evaluation of the hospital and reviews and inspects all aspects of the Critical Access Hospital, the clinical laboratories, and home health, personal nursing care and hospice services.

Accreditation is an ongoing process, said Linda Ament, compliance and regulations officer for BCHHC, and assists the hospital in monitoring, updating and improving its procedures and policies on an ongoing basis.

 "The value of this survey is that it lets us know what we are doing well and assists us in identifying areas of service that need improvement," she said.

BCHHC is one of only four critical access hospitals in Nebraska to become accredited by the The Joint Commission, joining Box Butte General Hospital in Alliance, Community Hospital in McCook and Phelps Memorial Health Center in Holdrege in earning the Gold Seal of Approval.

For more information, go online to The Joint Commission Web site at http://www.jointcommission.org.