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Hackensack Meridian Health’s academic flagship, Hackensack Meridian University Medical Center, became the first hospital in the U.S. to be certified by The Joint Commission for its efforts to address and improve health care equity.

In an Aug. 21 statemenet announcing the newly awarded Health Care Equity Certification, Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett said, “We are honored to have Hackensack University Medical Center be recognized as the first and only site in the nation to complete this important certification and we look forward to continuing to advance health equity for our patients.”

Launched in June by The Joint Commission, a non-profit that accredits and certifies more than 22,000 health care organizations and programs in the U.S., the advanced certification recognizes hospitals for excellence in efforts to provide equitable care, treatment and services.

According to the commission, the program builds on the organization’s longstanding accreditation requirements that support health care equity, as well as its new requirements implemented in January to reduce disparities.

To become certified, The Joint Commission requires health systems to have formalized structures in place to improve health equities across their facilities and serve as community collaborators to address areas of need. Organizations seeking the designation must collect, analyzes and act on data points relating to patient care, patient communications, socioeconomic information, staff education and policies on various topics, including recruitment and retention.

During an onsite visit at the Bergen County hospital, a team of Joint Commission surveyors evaluated more than 40 program-specific standards and a range of data points, including:

• Comparing the race, ethnicity and languages spoken by staff and leaders to the race, ethnicity and languages spoken by the community;
• Stratifying the results of employee opinion survey/culture of safety survey by race, ethnicity and language information;
• Reviewing the Health Care Equity performance improvement plan;
• Examining three quality and/or safety measures for priority clinical conditions by sociodemographic characteristics.

Members of the hospital’s senior leadership and administrative teams, as well as clinical care leaders, were also invited to participate in the process.

Avonia Richardson-Miller, senior vice president and chief diversity officer at Hackensack Meridian Health, said a “commitment to fostering an environment rooted in equity is at the forefront” of the network’s mission. “We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve done to make our hospitals more inclusive for our patients and team members, and we will continue to build initiatives that support and represent all communities we serve,” she said.

Mark Sparta, president and chief hospital executive at Hackensack University Medical Center and president of Hackensack Meridian Health’s North Region, said he believes the certification “is a testament to our team members’ dedicated commitment each and every day to providing outstanding, compassionate care to all of our patients.”

“New Jersey is one of the nation’s most diverse states, and this certification validates our long-standing efforts to eliminate health disparities and elevate the standard of care. We look forward to building upon this recognition to continue enhancing patient care for all,” Sparta added.

Hackensack Meridian – the largest health network in New Jersey – already holds 30 other Joint Commissions certifications, which is the most of any hospital in the country.

Those accreditations include behavioral health care and human services, advanced palliative care, advanced total hip & total knee replacement, perinatal care, primary stroke center, kidney cancer, prostate cancer and spine surgery.

More honors

Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett has been named chair of the World Economic Forum’s Health and Healthcare Governor’s Community. Click here to read more.