North Adams Commons Receives Quality Award

NORTH ADAMS — The American Health Care Assoc. and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) recently announced the selection of North Adams Commons Nursing & Rehabilitation Center as a 2014 recipient of the Silver Achievement in Quality Award for its outstanding performance in the healthcare profession. North Adams Commons was the only organization in Massachusetts to win the Silver Award this year, and one of only 77 facilities nationwide.

The competitive award program highlights select centers across the nation that serve as models of excellence in providing high-quality long-term care. Implemented by AHCA/NCAL in 1996, the National Quality Award Program is centered on the core values and criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which assists providers of long-term and post-acute-care services in achieving their performance excellence goals.

“I am proud that North Adams Commons is standing among the ranks of other centers that are delivering quality care,” said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL. “Our profession is stronger through the work and dedication of these centers.”

The program has three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Facilities begin the quality-improvement process at the Bronze level and must receive an award at each level before proceeding to the next. “We are proud to have received the Silver Award, and we’re pleased that an independent panel of examiners saw the high value we place on quality care and service excellence,” said Robert Post, administrator at North Adams Commons. “Our focus at North Adams Commons has always been on people. We want to continue to evolve our quality care and service to even greater heights.”

As a recipient of the Silver Achievement in Quality award, North Adams Commons has demonstrated systematic advancements in quality, plans for continual improvement, and sustainable organizational goals. The award will be presented in October in Washington, D.C.