JULY 9 – The Joint Commission International (JCI) has once again accredited the Aga Khan University Hospital as a center of excellence for treating and managing acute primary stroke.
The hospital initially accomplished this milestone in 2021, making history as the first hospital in Africa to do so.
The areas evaluated by the JCI for compliance include international patient safety goals, program leadership and management, delivering or facilitating clinical care, supporting self-management for patients and caregivers, clinical information management and performance, measurement, and improvement.
In a statement, Agha Khan Hospital CEO Rashid Khalani attributed the achievement to the laborious efforts pumped by the hospital, such as conducting benchmarking with other hospitals globally, which he asserted has played a huge part in maintaining and boosting the quality of healthcare the hospital offers, especially for stroke patients.
“Quality is one of our values and this certification is an external validation that we remain true to that value. By opening ourselves to an external review of our processes, we are benchmarking with the best hospitals globally,” he stated.
Acute primary stroke is the sudden onset of a stroke, which is a medical emergency in which there is limited or no blood flow to a portion of the brain, depriving the brain tissue of oxygen and nutrition.
Its symptoms include trouble speaking, paralysis in the face, arm, or leg, problems seeing in one or both eyes, headaches, and trouble walking.
Khalani further expressed the hospital’s commitment to continuously learning how to improve its quality protocols in care for patients.
“At AKUH, N quality is not an event but a lifestyle, we are open to continuously learning to improve our quality protocols in care for our patients and appreciate all initiatives that are in favor of this agenda,” he stated.
