LYNN — The Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC) passed a Joint Commission survey last week, which declared the center and its work as “impressive.”
The commission — which is an independent, accreditation organization that upholds rigorous quality-assurance and patient-safety standards — visits all health care organizations, including major hospitals, every three years.
LCHC had three surveyors visit last week; the surveyors did not announce their visit until the morning of.
LCHC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kiame Mahaniah said LCHC passed the survey with flying colors, and the surveyors were most impressed with the dedicated and engaged folks who work there.
“As always, we have a number of widely-scattered issues to work on, but the survey confirmed what we’ve known: We provide excellent care, despite offering an impressively complex array of services,” Mahaniah said.
On the last day of the survey, Mahaniah said the team leader pulled him aside to emphasize how proud they should be of the work LCHC does on a daily basis.
Mahaniah singled out Elena Freydin, the chief of compliance, for leading LCHC so successfully toward this goal over the last three years.
“It takes a team, but success requires a capable captain. The surveyors were particularly blown away when they compared where we were three and a half years ago,” Mahaniah said in a newsletter. “To have morphed from being on probation to an institution that has clearly hardwired protocols in some of our more complex workflows was something they kept coming back to.”
As infection control for invasive procedures was the Joint Commission’s No. 1 concern, Mahaniah said the surveyors were blown away by the dental staff’s understanding of the protocols and the rationale behind what they did.
He also said the surveyors were overwhelmed by LCHC’s journey, including how precisely the center follows certain data and how much it’s used to guide daily operations.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that our facilities staff were picked out for their excellence,” Mahaniah added. “Other than missing sprinkler caps and dirty ceiling tiles, and despite having 13 different sites inspected, there were no findings.”
Mahaniah credited the staff at LCHC for passing the rigorous survey, thanking all departments and staff for their hard work and dedication.
Some aspects that Mahaniah highlighted from the survey include LCHC’s ability to provide 18 schools with therapy and psychopharmacologic services, which he said is unheard of; having the surveyors visit, for the first time, a recuperative care center integrated within a health center; the size and depth of LCHC substance-use-disorder treatment services; being one of the only federally-qualified health centers left in the state to provide comprehensive obstetrical services; and the pervasive role the health center has had in COVID-19-related matters.
“It took our village to raise this particular Joint Commission child,” Mahaniah said. “I say it often at our town halls, and repeat it whenever I can: I am incredibly proud to be the chosen leader for such a hard-working, engaged and dedicated group of people. We certainly have our foibles, our conflicts, and areas where improvement is needed. Yet we can sometimes be so critical as to not realize how incredible of an institution we build every day.”
