By Andrea McBride
Staff Writer
CARO — The Lighthouse Neurological Rehabilitation Center’s new mission statement holds true according to a recent evaluation by CARF International.
CARF International, which is the Council on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, recently evaluated The Lighthouse based on several criteria and gave it a three-year accreditation.
The goal of the CARF assessment was to ensure the facility complies with more than 2,500 international standards. All programs were evaluated at the facility’s houses in Caro and Traverse City.
Four surveyors went to Caro and one went to Traverse City, assessing programs such as the facility’s vocational program, on-campus education program and its horse barn. Upkeep was also evaluated.
A three-year accreditation is the best possible result from the assessment. Depending on results, facilities may also be granted a one-year accreditationor have their accreditation removed.
CARF International provided The Lighthouse with a list of its strengths, and Clinical Director Connie Hart said two of them in particular “really got to the heart of The Lighthouse.”
They were: “External stakeholders are highly complimentary of the honesty and ethics of the organization and its willingness to serve residents with challenging dispositions,” and “The passion of the staff members radiates in their performance and how they treat the residents, the families and one another, lending support for the success of all individuals, even in the small details of daily care.”
The Lighthouse, which is a long term and transitional rehabilitation facility devoted to enhancing individuals’ independence, has 10 houses in Caro and three houses in Traverse City.
Hart and Case Manager Lori Allison attended a CARF International outcomes management conference in Tucson, Ariz. in January. The conference taught attendees that all programs offered through their facility should have performance improvement measures that come from its mission statement.
Hart said that’s when she and Allison realized The Lighthouse’s half-page mission statement needed to be revamped.
“When we saw that and realized it was too big, it was cumbersome, it didn’t reflect what the Lighthouse was truly about, we brought that back and met with the management team here and decided it was time for a new mission statement,” Hart said.
The new mission statement is “The Lighthouse provides phenomenal care, treating every resident as we wanted our son to be treated.”
Hart said employees were receptive to the change and were also eager to discuss their job with CARF surveyors.
“When the staff interviewed as groups, they really wanted to show what they’re doing and they wanted to talk about what they doing, because they were so enthusiastic,” Hart said.
Allison said the accreditation reflects that The Lighthouse is constantly striving to be the best of the best.
“It gives us (the ability) to say to our customers, to our clients, our families, our guardians, ‘We’re doing the right thing, we’re here for your loved one. We will put them in the best care possible.’”