Littauer Director of Performance Improvement, Christine Waghirn

GLOVERSVILLE, NEW YORK (February 6, 2018)  – Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home has been awarded by DNV GL – Healthcare full certification to the ISO 9001 Quality Management System.

Littauer is dedicated to providing the safest and most effective healthcare services possible,” says Christine Waghorn, Littauer Director of Performance Improvement. “ISO certification not only reflects that mission, but helps to empower it. The certificate is not just a piece of paper, but the effort required to achieve it fundamentally transforms the way we do business. ISO 9001 is ideally suited to the complex, people-intensive challenges of running a hospital.”

ISO 9001 is the most widely-accepted quality management system in use around the world, and is quickly gaining acceptance among US healthcare providers as a foundation for their quality and patient safety programs.

“Littauer has worked hard to achieve this certification, and they have done so with unwavering commitment from their top leadership to make their hospital the best it can be,” says Patrick Horine, President of DNV – GL Healthcare. “ISO certification isn’t just an award or trophy for something you’ve done, it’s public evidence that you are at the top of your game with an obvious plan in place to make excellence an every day objective.”

ISO 9001 brings science to the art of caregiving; it helps to standardize processes around things that are proven to work, by the people doing the work, thus empowering frontline workers while creating an environment of predictability for the entire organization.

The ultimate impact of ISO within hospitals is the reduction or elimination of variation, so that critical work processes are done consistently and the “best ideas” aren’t held by one person or one department, but are ingrained in the organization itself. Businesses that implement ISO do so for both the internal and external benefits.

Internally it helps staff create clear and consistent processes of patient care, and ensure that progress is constantly being made toward specific quality objectives. Externally, it tells the public, as well as insurers and regulatory agencies, that the hospital is not only talking about quality, but is pursuing it with discipline and transparency.

“ISO 9001 is like sheet music for an orchestra; it gets everyone on the same page and helps us achieve our objectives,” says Waghorn. “We are honored to accept the DNV certificate of accreditation on behalf of Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home. This is not a certification that can be achieved by a single person or department; rather, it takes the effort of an entire workforce. This certification truly symbolizes our commitment to a culture of safety and quality.”

About DNV GL

DNV GL Healthcare, with offices in Cincinnati and Houston, is a division of DNV GL – Business Assurance, part of the DNV GL Group, an independent foundation dedicated to safeguarding life, property and the environment. Globally, DNV GL – Business Assurance has more than 100 offices and is one of the world’s leading certification, assessment and training companies. For more information about DNV hospital accreditation, visit www.dnvglhealthcare.com.

About Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home

Nathan Littauer Hospital and Family of Health Services serves Fulton, Montgomery, and Hamilton counties in upstate New York with a full-service, 84-bed acute care hospital, 10 primary care centers, a nursing home and a community education center. The hospital was founded in 1894 and has nearly 1,000 employees. Littauer’s medical staff provides well over 130,000 patient encounters each year. For more information, please visit www.nlh.org.