Brookdale, Flushing, and Jamaica Hospitals recently earned the American Association for Respiratory Care’s (AARC) Quality Respiratory Care Recognition Award (QRCR). Selected from over 5,000 hospitals nationwide, the network’s hospitals are among the 700 facilities who met a strict set of criteria, including:
• All respiratory therapists employed by the hospital to deliver bedside respiratory care are either legally recognized by the state as competent to provide respiratory care services or hold the CRT or RRT credential.
• Use a process that periodically compares performance of the hospital’s respiratory department on efficiency and quality metrics with similar departments for the purpose of identifying an achieving best practice.
• Hospital policy prohibits the routine delivery of medicated aerosol treatments utilizing small volume nebulizers, metered dose inhalers, or intermittent positive pressure treatments to multiple patients simultaneously.
• A doctor of medicine or osteopathy is designated as medical director of respiratory services.
Hospitals that meet the QRCR requirements provide a level of respiratory care consistent with national standards and guidelines, and are therefore recognized for their commitment to quality care. Brookdale, Flushing, and Jamaica Hospitals have held these high standards for the past nine years, receiving this recognition since the inception of the program.
“We’re always honored whenever we receive this award,” said Leon Lebowitz, Director of Brookdale Hospital’s Department of Respiratory Care. “It shows our commitment to providing exceptional and quality care, as well as our efforts to maintain this level of care for our patients.”
The QRCR program began in 2003 as a way to help patients and their families make informed decisions about the quality of respiratory care services available in hospitals. The hospitals will be listed on AARC’s website for consumers, www.yourlunghealth.org, beginning April 15, 2011.
The MediSys Health Network is very proud of the respiratory care services provided to the communities served by each of its facilities. Keep up the great work!
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