Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai, recently has become the first
superspeciality hospital in South Asia to achieve accreditation
from Joint Commission International (JCI), USA. Apollo Hospitals
a few months back had received JCI accreditation but it was
for its general, multi-speciality hospital.
With this, Wockhardt Hospitals joins an exclusive group
of 71 hospitals worldwide, which have passed JCI's stringent
clinical quality standards. JCI is the gold standard in
global healthcare standards. The accreditation process requires
a hospital to comply with almost 1,300 measurable standards.
Wockhardt is the only HMI-associate outside the US to win
this recognition.
"Clinical excellence has been Wockhardt Hospitals'
passion and preoccupation all along. The JCI accreditation
is a recognition of our commitment to clinical excellence,"
said Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman, Wockhardt Hospitals.
The JCI accreditation was awarded after a rigorous onsite
evaluation of Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai by an international
surveyor team of healthcare experts in August this year.
Andrew Jeon, Chief Operating Officer of Harvard Medical
International (HMI), Wockhardt's partner, said HMI was pleased
to have worked with Wockhardt towards getting the JCI accreditation.
"Over the last 18 months, our clinical and administrative
teams have set high standards in various areas to upgrade
our processes of clinical care and service delivery to become
eligible for JCI accreditation", said Dr Lloyd Nazareth,
General Manager, Wockhardt Hospitals.
The hospital has established protocols, drills and audits
for safe intra-hospital and inter-hospital transfer of patients
and similar procedures for infection control and patient
safety. Wockhardt is participating in a quarterly global
study, which monitors infection rates across leading hospitals
of the world, he added.
Speaking about the Groups business plans, Khorakiwala said
that "Wockhardt Hospitals will invest Rs 500 crore
in four greenfield projects over the next three years. The
new hospitals will be set up in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore,
and Kolkata."
