Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Health Center was awarded accreditation for all services, the highest recognition for health care organizations. The national health care accrediting body the Joint Commission conducted a three-day unannounced survey on March 26-28 and found the health center in full compliance with no recommendations for improvement.
“In my 27 years participating in the Joint Commission survey process, this is the first time we have not discovered any findings on the three days we’ve been here,” said McLain Garrett, a surveyor with the Joint Commission.
The two surveyors visited every clinic in the health center and spoke to staff, patients, parents, and the leadership team.
“To complete a three day survey of our entire operation without a single recommendation for improvement is extraordinary,” said Dr. Jean Chin, executive director of health center. “It is a testament to our staff, our focus on continuous improvement and our mission to deliver the highest quality care and services.”
The health center voluntarily goes through the rigorous accreditation process to ensure that UGA students receive the highest quality health care. The Joint Commission surveyors conduct an unannounced visit every 18-36 months and the health center must complete a self-review annually. Only 19 of 1,700 college health centers nationwide choose to go through the challenging Joint Commission accrediting process. The University Health Center is the only college health center accredited by the Joint Commission in the state of Georgia, and has been fully accredited since 1989.
The University Health Center is a unit of the Division of Student Affairs and is staffed by over 200 employees, including 17 physicians with board certification or board eligibility in internal medicine, family practice, sports medicine, psychiatry and gynecology. The health center features four primary care clinics and a variety of specialty care clinics including women’s health, sports medicine, dermatology, allergy/travel medicine, vision care, dental care and physical therapy. Supporting services include pharmacy, laboratory and radiology departments. The health center also has counseling and psychiatrics services and a health promotion department.