Health Care District of Palm Beach County's Skilled Nursing Home Earns 2023 AHCA/NCAL Bronze National Quality Award
The Health Care District of Palm Beach County’s 120-bed skilled nursing home, the Edward J. Healey Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riviera Beach, Florida, has been recognized as a 2023 Bronze National Quality Award recipient by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL). The distinction is the first of three progressive award levels through the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program, which honors providers across the nation that have demonstrated their commitment to improving quality of care for our nation’s elders and individuals with disabilities.
“It’s an honor to receive the Bronze National Quality Award for 2023,” said Darcy J. Davis, the Health Care District’s Chief Executive Officer. “This achievement underscores our dedication to creating a culture of quality and placing the health of our skilled nursing home residents at the forefront.”
The AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program is a rigorous three-level process (bronze, silver, gold) that is reviewed and evaluated by trained experts against a set of nationally-recognized standards for organizational excellence. The standards of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program help organizations achieve superior performance over time to improve quality of life and care of long-term care residents and staff.
Providers begin the quality improvement process at the bronze level, where they develop an organizational profile with essential performance elements such as vision, mission statement, understanding of key customers, and key strengths and challenges. Bronze applicants must also demonstrate their ability to implement a sustainable performance improvement system. Trained examiners review each application to determine if a center has met the demands of the criteria. As a recipient of the bronze award, the Edward J. Healey Rehabilitation and Nursing Center may now move forward to the Silver Achievement in Quality Award criteria.
“The Healey Center is an important part of the county’s health care safety net, providing access to long-term care, short-term care and skilled nursing for trauma patients and other Palm Beach County residents who are not served in other skilled nursing facilities,” added Karen A. Harris, the Health Care District’s Vice President of Field Operations. “This award symbolizes our commitment to going above and beyond for the residents we care for and motivates us to continue embracing new technologies, practices, and ideas to deliver the highest quality of care.”
The Healey Center is home to a younger adult population than most nursing homes. The average age of the Healey Center’s residents is 62 and the youngest is 27. Many have suffered traumatic injuries, strokes or debilitating illnesses. The skilled nursing home’s team of professionals provide a continuum of specialized care for residents to reach and maintain their highest optimum level of functional and social ability. “Earning this award is a milestone to be proud of,” said Cathy Bergland, AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Board Chair. “It’s at this point that providers see what is possible by committing to the process of improvement. Congratulations to the Edward J. Healey Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for this achievement.”
For the past four years, the Healey Center has received the “Best Nursing Homes” designation for Long-Term Care by U.S. News & World Report. The AHCA/NCAL National Quality Awards will be presented during Delivering Solutions 23, the AHCA/NCAL Convention & Expo, October 1-4, 2023 in Denver, Colorado.
About the Health Care District
The Health Care District of Palm Beach County is a special taxpayer-funded district that has served as a health care safety net for over 30 years to fill in gaps in access to health care services. This unique health care system covers the entire county and provides diverse services such as 13 outpatient clinics (Federally Qualified Health Centers) which serve everyone regardless of ability to pay; school health clinicians staffed in nearly 170 public schools; two Trauma Hawk aeromedical helicopters; a rural, public teaching hospital, Lakeside Medical Center; a skilled nursing facility, the Edward J. Healey Rehabilitation and Nursing Center; a specialty benefits program for eligible, uninsured residents; and quality performance oversight of the county’s lifesaving trauma system.
About AHCA/NCAL
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) represent more than 14,000 non-profit and proprietary skilled nursing centers, assisted living communities, sub-acute centers, and homes for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities. By delivering solutions for quality care, AHCA/NCAL aims to improve the lives of the millions of frail, elderly and individuals with disabilities who receive long term or post-acute care in our member facilities each day. For more information, please visit www.ahcancal.org.