East Bay Community Action Awarded Joint Commission Accreditation

East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP) is proud to announce it has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Behavioral Health Services Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care.

In a span of four days in December 2020, EBCAP underwent a rigorous, unannounced onsite review. Joint Commission reviewers evaluated EBCAP’s compliance with Behavioral Health and Human Services standards spanning several areas including care and treatment assessment, nutritional screening, suicide risk assessment, and staff competency.

“We did very well during the survey,” explains Robert Crossley, EBCAP’s V.P. of Behavioral Health. “The Joint Commission standards and regulations consist of 1,174 standards that cover medication management, safety, human resources, quality, clinical care and treatment, to name just a few,” explains Crossley. “We completed all requirements and met all our 1,165 standard criteria, scoring 99.3% compliance.”

The Joint Commission’s standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. They are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help health care organizations measure, assess and improve performance. The surveyors also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

“As a private accreditor, The Joint Commission surveys health care organizations to protect the public by identifying deficiencies in care and working with those organizations to correct them as quickly and sustainably as possible,” says Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, The Joint Commission’s chief operating officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations, and chief nursing executive. “We commend East Bay Community Action Program for its continuous quality improvement efforts in patient safety and quality of care.”

East Bay Community Action Program is a private, non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation that provides a wide array of health and human services to the residents of Rhode Island’s East Bay, including the municipalities of East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol, Little Compton, Tiverton, Portsmouth, Middletown, Newport, and Jamestown. EBCAP’s Behavioral Health Program provides a lifeline of behavioral health services including 24-hour emergency services/crisis intervention, counseling for adults and children, psychiatric services, medication prescription and monitoring, and substance abuse and opioid treatment services. For more information regarding EBCAP’s programs and services, visit www.ebcap.org