Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center recently received The Joint Commission’s Health Care Equity Certification, the first time the hospital has received the certification.
The Joint Commission, a not-for-profit organization that accredits over 22,000 health-care entities in the United States, mandates that health systems seeking this certification establish formal structures to promote health equity. This involves collecting, analyzing, and acting on various data points related to patient care, communication, socioeconomic factors, staff education, and policies on recruitment and retention.
Some states, such as Massachusetts and Colorado, have integrated this certification into their Medicaid programs, making it even more impactful for healthcare providers.
To earn this certification, Mountainside Medical Center underwent a comprehensive onsite evaluation. Joint Commission surveyors assessed more than 40 program-specific standards and reviewed a variety of data points, including:
- Quality and safety measures for priority clinical conditions, analyzed by sociodemographic characteristics.
- Comparison of the race, ethnicity, and languages spoken by staff and leaders to those of the community.
- Results from employee opinion surveys and culture of safety surveys, stratified by race, ethnicity, and language.
“Health care equity is crucial for patient safety, quality of care, and creating an inclusive workplace,” said Tim O’Brien, chief executive officer of Mountainside Medical Center. “We look forward to building on this recognition as we continue to enhance patient care in our community.”
In the Hackensack Meridian Health Network, Hackensack University Medical Center received this recognition in 2023.
Mountainside Medical Center, which has 1,600 employees, has been a trusted provider of healthcare in Montclair and surrounding New Jersey communities since 1891. The hospital is home to specialized centers for imaging, women’s health, cancer care, cardiac care, surgery, weight management, stroke, and chronic kidney disease.
