PRESS RELEASE

PHC Receives Second Accreditation from Joint Commission
Volunteer Process Reflects Top Scores in Quality and Service

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, May 26, 2004-PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY- The Plainfield Health Center (PHC), one of eighteen Federally Qualified Health Centers in New Jersey, dedicated to providing cost effective primary health care services for the residents of Plainfield and surrounding communities, announced today that it has received accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). This is PHC’s second accreditation from the Commission.

Accreditation means that an outpatient facility has volunteered to undergo a challenging, comprehensive evaluation, in an effort to improve key factors that can affect the quality and safety of a patient’s care. Accreditation is considered the Gold Standard in health care. Hospitals have been evaluated by JCAHO for over 50 years, but only in recent years are other outpatient facilities, such as health centers, going through this voluntary process. JCAHO trained health care providers and administrators conduct a review over a several day period, looking at how well the facility: provides a safe environment for care; educates patients about risks and options for diagnosis and treatment; protects patients’ rights, including confidentiality; evaluates patients’ conditions prior, during and after diagnosis and treatment; protects patients against infection, and; plans for emergency situations.

“The Plainfield Health Center is proud to have successfully completed this rigorous process for the second time in three years,” said Dr. Susan Walsh, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. “Very few health centers in the country have yet to volunteer for the evaluation process, and few can match the overall excellence demonstrated by PHC’s program. Most importantly, the results speak for the top quality care that PHC staff delivers to patients on a day-to-day basis,” said Dr. Walsh.

About The Plainfield Health Center

The Plainfield Health Center, incorporated as the Plainfield Neighborhood Health Services Corporation, was born in 1969 under the auspices of the 1960's Model Cities Neighborhood Program. Led by a dedicated group of community activists, the Center was initially created to provide accessible health care to the residents of the West End of Plainfield.

Since then, the Center has grown, added more services, increased the number of specialties of professional health staff, and expanded its reach to the entire City of Plainfield and neighboring communities, and to the City of Elizabeth. Today, the Plainfield Health Center serves more than 21,000 patients annually. Its total care program provides adult medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, adolescent medicine, school based services, dentistry and ancillary support services.
About the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising the level of safety and quality of care in all health care settings. Since 1951, JCAHO accreditation has been recognized within health care as a symbol of quality. JCAHO’s governing board of doctors, nurses, medical directors and consumers sets the standards that measure health care quality in America and around the world. For more information on accreditation of health care organizations, visit www.jcaho.org.

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