Outpatient Care

Spectrum Health Recognized for Rehab Excellence

Five Programs Receive International Accreditation

Spectrum Health has received international accreditation for the quality and expertise of its rehabilitation programs from CARF International, an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services.

All five Spectrum Health programs participating in the CARF survey process met the standards for brain injury specialty accreditation. Two programs have also been accredited for stroke rehabilitation.

“Earning CARF accreditation for our programs demonstrates Spectrum Health’s deep commitment to provide excellence in rehabilitation,” said Jeff Mislevy, president, Spectrum Health Continuing Care. “We are not required to participate in this additional accreditation process, however, we choose to because we know meeting these standards makes our programs better.”

The CARF accreditation process applies sets of standards to service areas and business practices during an on-site survey. CARF standards are applied on top of required regulatory requirements and – in hospital settings – in addition to Joint Commission standards. According to CARF, accreditation is an ongoing process designed to indicate that a service provider is committed to continuously improving its services.

Five Spectrum Health programs received accreditation in brain injury treatment:

Two programs received accreditation as stroke specialty programs:

  • Center for Acute Rehabilitation
  • Subacute Rehabilitation – Rehab and Nursing Center, Kalamazoo Avenue

The Center for Acute Rehabilitation was also accredited as an amputee specialty program.
 
“One of the things that we can be most proud about is the commitment of our staff. Throughout the CARF reports, there are comments about the compassion, clinical excellence and efforts on the part of Spectrum Health staff to ensure the best outcome for our patients at different levels of care, across a full continuum of rehabilitation,” said Mislevy. “To us, that’s what really makes our rehabilitation programs special.”

Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services. The CARF family of organizations currently accredits more than 48,000 programs and services at more than 21,000 locations on five continents. More than 8 million persons of all ages are served annually by more than 6,000 CARF-accredited providers.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of nine hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, a state of the art children’s hospital that opened in January 2011, and 140 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart, physician groups totaling more than 700 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with 600,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with 19,000 employees. The organization provided $204 million in community benefit during its 2012 fiscal year.