March, 2008--Drake Center Inc. has earned a three-year CARF accreditation for its comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation programs. This accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization's substantial conformance to the CARF standards.

An organization receiving a three-year accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable. In fact, the CARF surveyors commended Drake Center for 16 areas of strengths and eight areas of exemplary conformance to standards, including:

• "The medical director and other physicians provide great team leadership, state-of-the-art care for persons served and evidence-based treatment methods."
• "Drake Center is commended for having eight of its nursing staff with certified rehabilitation registered nursing (CRRN) specialty certification, easily an envy of many rehabilitation programs."
• "Drake Center can be especially proud of the case management process involving an integrated team consisting of a nurse and social worker. Discharge and other transitions along the continuum of care are preformed smoothly for the person served and others involved in the process. The case management team keeps the persons served integrated in the team process."
• "The leadership of Health Alliance and Drake Center has transformed organizational values, quality staffing, financial performance, and clinical outcomes in a healthy yet incredibly rapid fashion. A three-year strategic objective has been realized in less than two years involving courageous and wise leadership decisions and teamwork at all levels of the organization."  

Drake Center Inc. is a not-for-profit long term acute care hospital located at 151 West Galbraith Rd, Cincinnati, Ohio. Drake Center provides specialized medical and rehabilitative care, including specialties in spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, the programs include in the CARF survey, as well as pulmonary care/ventilator weaning, advanced wound care and other complex medical conditions. Drake also holds JCAHO certification.

CARF is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.

For additional information, contact Phil Jasin at 513-418-2500.