Getting to Gold

By Altercare Post-Acute Rehabilitation Center

When Altercare Post-Acute Rehabilitation Center (APRC) in Kent, Ohio, earned the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) 2016 Gold – Excellence in Quality Award, the distinction honored years of continual process refinement and quality program enhancements.

Based on the core values and criteria of the nationally recognized Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program challenges member providers to achieve performance excellence through three progressive levels—Bronze, Silver, and Gold.  At this level, recipients have invested multiple years in mastering and applying the rigorous quality improvement standards of the Baldrige Criteria to achieve superior results in the areas of leadership, strategic planning, customer and workforce focus and operations and knowledge management.

The center is part of Altercare of Ohio, a family-owned company operating 21 nursing care and rehabilitation centers in Ohio and Michigan. It is the second Altercare facility to receive the Gold designation, and among the elite 31 centers of the 13,000 facilities nationwide to reach this level of quality recognition since 1996. Erin Fromwiller, Administrator, Altercare Post-Acute Rehabilitation Center, shares insight on their road to gold in a Q&A here.  Below is an excerpt.

Do you think Altercare is better prepared for the current long term and post-acute care landscape today than five years ago? 

Absolutely. Altercare is more agile and set up with solid systems to improve key work processes. As a result of the quality improvements, APRC has led the market in skilled occupancy percentages, is aligned with four major hospitals, participated in Model 2 and Model 3 bundling, had three consecutive deficiency free health surveys and maintained a five-star QM and overall five-star rating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  

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Is your center planning to apply for a 2017 AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award?  If so, be sure to submit your intent to apply here before the November 17 deadline to save up to $700 on the overall application and get weekly tips from Quality Award staff!