Health care terminates accreditation contract

Will not affect services

MOSES LAKE - Grant Mental Healthcare will terminate its accreditation contract with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

The commission is a private accreditation firm handling hospitals, assisted living facilities and laboratory services.

Grant Mental Healthcare Executive Director Jalane Christian-Stoker said the eight- year-long relationship between the two organizations helped to develop stricter procedures, but maintaining the accreditation puts a strain on staff and resources. She said it requires several employees to check the policies and procedures involved.

"It's very, very paperwork intensive," she said. "It's time prohibitive and expensive."

State regulators will still inspect the facilities, she said. This accreditation is through a private company.

"We still have an oversight body," she said. "There are times when what the state requires is different (from what the commission) requires and we have to be in compliance with the state."

She said GMHC signed up hoping to serve people who have private insurance that might not pay for mental health care, but they didn't have enough people coming in.

"It doesn't even become a break-even proposition," she said. "From a business point of view it's not cost effective."

The contract will expire at the end of the year.