Quadco Rehabilitation Center (QRC) has been accredited by CARF International for a period of three years for its Organizational Employment Services, the highest level the independent accrediting body awards.
QRC Executive Director Bruce Abell announced the accreditation at the monthly meeting of the Administrative and Non-Profit boards on Tuesday (Aug. 25).
In the notification letter to QRC from CARF International, it states,”This achievement is an indication of your organization’s dedication and commitment to improving the quality of the lives of the persons served. Services, personnel, and documentation clearly indicate an established pattern of practice excellence.”
A three-year accreditation decision is described by CARF International as representing “the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards.”
They furthermore state that an organization, such as QRC, receiving a three-year accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process.
“It has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit its commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable, and of the highest quality,” according to the independent, non-profit accrediting body.
Mr. Abell said the surveyors were impressed with what they saw during the time they spent in their review, and he was pleased with the results of the accreditation award.
Surveyors from CARF International reviewed QRC in July, submitted their report to the organization, which then rendered their accreditation decision.
Meanwhile, Abell continued a discussion on the privatization of the center that has been on-going with the board during the past several meetings.
He reiterated that the center needs to privatize due to Medicaid rules that prohibit conflict of interest. He said the county boards of developmental disabilities have service and support administrators (SSA) who work with the people they serve to help them with the services they need. If a county board also provides direct services for people, it can be a conflict of interest for an SSA to refer a person to a service that the county board provides.
Some people believe that since QRC has had a long relationship with the county boards in northwest Ohio that for them to refer people to QRC for services could be construed as a conflict of interest.
To eliminate any concern of conflict of interest, Abell says the center needs to privatize just as many other county boards have done with their services around the state.
He said the center has hired an administrative attorney in Columbus who has worked with about 25 county boards that have or are in the process of privatizing their services.
He said he hopes to have the process completed by March of 2016.
Program Manager Philip Zuver showed the board members a video of a new cardboard pallet building machine. The machine is being made for the center to address their increasing demand for the production of cardboard pallets as well as to enhance the employment training offerings of the center.
Bill Priest, director of marketing, showed photos of classic cars, trucks, hotrods and motorcycles that came to the third annual QRC cruise-in held at the Stryker school parking lot on July 31.
He said there was a great turnout of vehicles, and people from QRC and the community joined together to look them over that afternoon.
He thanked the school and the drivers for making the event possible.
The next regular board meeting is scheduled for September 22 at noon in the QRC Stryker conference room.
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