4.6.10

Jersey City Medical Center's EMS earns prestigious accreditation


Emergency Medical Service (EMS) has received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) -- making it the first ambulance service in northern New Jersey to receive this accreditation and only the third in the state and one of just 135 in the entire United States.

“This accreditation reflects the commitment we have to the people in the community who depend on us for their well being,” said Christopher Rinn, EMS director. “It’s a real credit to the hard work, perseverance and professionalism of our medical director Dr. Bill Wang and the 250 individuals who comprise our team, and it speaks to the commitment the hospital has in maintaining a first-class emergency medical service for Jersey City and Hudson County.”

The accreditation followed successful completion of a voluntary review process that included completion of a comprehensive application and on-site review by a team of national experts in emergency medical services. The ambulance service received a special commendation for having no deficiencies during the review.

The CAAS was established to encourage and promote quality patient care in America's medical transportation system. Based initially on the efforts of the American Ambulance Association, the independent commission established a comprehensive series of standards for the ambulance service industry, which not only addresses patient care, but also the ambulance service’s total operation and its relationships with other agencies, the general public and the medical community.

According to the CAAS, accreditation signifies that a service has met the "gold standard" determined by the ambulance industry to be essential in a modern emergency medical services provider. These standards often exceed those established by state or local regulation and are designed to help increase operational efficiency and decrease risk and liability across the entire spectrum of the organization. All ambulance systems are eligible for the three-year accreditation including private, public, fire department and hospital-based.

“We’re very proud of our EMS team’s ability to meet the commission’s extremely demanding standards,” said Joseph Scott, President and CEO of LibertyHealth, which operates and manages Jersey City Medical Center. “It speaks volumes to the standards held by both EMS and the hospital, and reinforces our mission of ‘enhancing life.’ ”

According to Robert Margulies, chair of LibertyHealth, “This is another wonderful tribute that is being paid to the work of the Jersey City Medical Center EMS. In addition to ambulance groups from Europe and Canada visiting here expressly to observe its operations, EMS was recently named a finalist in a prestigious statewide competition for its innovation in healthcare.”

In recognition of EMS week, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy added, “All the residents of Jersey City should share my appreciation of the lifesaving services provided by the members of the Jersey City Medical Center EMS. Now is the perfect time to salute them.”

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