By Chioma Obinna

A Nigerian health facility, Lagoon Hospitals, last week made history as it received reaccreditation of the Joint International Commission (JCI)’s ‘The Gold Seal of Approval for the fourth time.

Lagoon Hospitals is the only Nigerian Hospital group accredited by the JCI, and one of two groups in Sub-Saharan African to be accredited. The Hospital was first accredited in 2011 and re-accredited in 2015, 2018, and 2021.

The Gold Seal of Approval is an accreditation of the United States-JCI done every three years, it is a guarantee of safe and quality healthcare that meets international standards.

At a media presentation of the latest accreditation in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, Lagoon Hospitals, Dr. Olujimi Coker, said they were rewarded following their continued compliance with the internationally-recognized standards.

The hospital underwent a rigorous process during which a team of JCI expert surveyors evaluated the group’s compliance with hospital standards related to a variety of areas.

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Some of the areas are to include international patient safety goals, patient assessment and care, anesthesia and surgical care, medication management, patient and family education, and quality improvement, infection prevention, and control.

JCI representatives commended the hospital for passing more than 1,200 measurable elements or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to retain its status as a quality improvement organisation.

“The accreditation demonstrates the hospital’s commitment to patient safety and quality. Lagoon Hospital is driven by a single thrust, to provide the best standards of patient care.

It is this passion that has led to the development of unique specialties across medical disciplines, within the Lagoon Hospitals Group.

“We got our first JCI accreditation in 2011 and within that time, what we have been able to do is to train, continuously training different healthcare professionals that have passed through our system but are now distributed across Nigeria, who are now leaders in quality healthcare in Nigeria.

There is no quality healthcare mechanism or organism in Nigeria that you can visit that one or two of the top people there wouldn’t be alumni of Lagoon Hospitals.” he added.

He said if the billions spent in the past years on medical tourism had been invested in the country’s health sector, Nigeria would have been able to produce its COVID-19 vaccine.

Vanguard News Nigeria