 |
| Image: 'ASPIRE to Excellence' CARF Accredited Seal |
The VAPAHCS Blind Rehabilitation Service is proud to
announce that we participated in a two and a half day survey by the Commission
on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) August 6th
through August 8th, 2014.
What is CARF?
The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
(CARF) provides accreditation services worldwide at the request of health and
human service providers. Through
accreditation, CARF assists service providers in improving the quality of their
services, demonstrating value, and meeting internationally recognized organizational
and program standards.
The accreditation process applies sets of standards to
service areas and business practices during an on-site survey. Accreditation is
an ongoing process, signaling to the public that a service provider is
committed to continuously improving services, encouraging feedback, and serving
the community. Accreditation also demonstrates a provider's commitment to
enhance its performance and distinguish its service delivery.
The CARF representatives completed a thorough survey of our
Blind Rehabilitation Services including a facility inspection, interviews with
students and staff, examination of our scope of services, standards,
memorandum, and policies, review of inpatient and outpatient programming, outcome
measures, quality of services provided, etc.
The exit briefing for the Western Blind Rehabilitation
Center CARF Survey was held Friday afternoon.
The CARF Team Leader and Administrative
Surveyor Leslie Levin and the Program Surveyor Eileen Slutsky began the session
congratulating the staff…
There were NO
recommendations! The WBRC is 100 %
compliant with all standards.
The exit briefing consisted of outlining the many strengths
they found in the program. Of note, the
surveyors commented on:
The high
degree of satisfaction of the Veterans interviewed with the program. Veterans and their families described their
experience as “magical, transformational, eye-opening”. The exemplary staff. They noted the diversity of experience and
the dedication of the staff to the mission and Veteran-Family centered
care. The commented on the dignity and
the respect shown to the Veterans. They
noted an exemplary culture of teamwork and how much the staff clearly are dedicated
to their work and the mission of the WBRC.
Access to
donated funds to provide travel for caregivers attending the Family Training
Program.
Concentrated
efforts to provide outreach (WBRC Blog, Newsletter, Human Guide Training to
VAPAHCS Services).
Rehabilitation
Nursing Services: Ability to provide admissions to patients with high acuity of
care.
The
cutting edge innovations they encountered in every program including assistive
technologies, the CNVR Program, the iProgram and the leadership in research.
The
continuous improvement culture.
Evidenced
based best practices.
The clean
and inviting environment of care.
Recreation
Therapy community reintegration.
Increased
access to care.
The
quality of the leadership.
Congratulations to
the entire team for an exemplary
survey!
