Ventura, CA — After rigorous two-day surveys, Community Memorial Health System has announced that both Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura and Ojai Valley Community Hospital in Ojai has achieved national accreditation from DNV Healthcare, a Cincinnati-based hospital accreditation organization.

CMHS made the decision to pursue DNV accreditation to further its commitment to continually improve the quality of care it provides. According to Gary Wilde, CMHS president and chief executive officer, DNV hospital accreditation addresses the demands of quality-driven hospitals that are dedicated to patient-centered care.

“Earning national accreditation through a program such as DNV shows CMHS’s commitment to quality, process improvement and providing excellent healthcare,” Wilde said. “Partnering with DNV helps us identify our strengths so we can continue to excel in those areas and assist us in finding opportunities to improve.”

DNV Healthcare’s hospital accreditation program is the only program that integrates the ISO 9001 quality management system with Medicare’s Conditions of Participation. ISO 9001 is recognized by businesses around the world as the benchmark for continual quality improvement. It provides a tried and tested framework and systematic approach to managing an organization’s processes so they consistently meet their customers' expectations. By integrating ISO 9001 standards with Medicare compliance standards, DNV’s hospital accreditation program emphasizes standardized processes, continual improvement and innovation. Hospitals accredited by DNV have three years from their first survey to become compliant with the ISO 9001standards to maintain their accreditation with DNV.

“DNV is an impressive system that focuses on quality and patient safety,” Wilde said. “With DNV, we can simultaneously meet CMS requirements and implement the ISO 9001 Quality Management System. The DNV program holds us to an even higher standard than other survey programs and is a win-win for us, our patients and our community.”

Community Memorial Health System is a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, and 11 family-practice health centers entitled Centers for Family Health. The health system is located in Ventura County, California.