Hearthstone of Beaverton's Awards

National "Quality First" Award

August 13, 2007

Hearthstone of Beaverton Assisted Living Community is one of only three long term care facilities in Oregon that has earned a Quality Award from the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) for demonstrating its strong commitment to continuous quality improvement. The owners, Bev Ecker, Nancy Ralston and Rod Friesen, along with the Administrator, Susan Magnuson, will travel to Boston, Massachusetts to pick up the award at the Annual AHCA/NCAL Convention, in October.

Hearthstone of Beaverton received a 2007 Step I Quality Award. All of the facilities that applied for this award addressed how they integrated the elements of systematic continuous quality improvement into their operations. As a Step I recipient, Hearthstone demonstrated its organization-wide commitment to a person-centered mission, defined its principal customers and their expectations, and indicated how it is striving to meet their needs.

"Our Quality Award is the most prestigious recognition of quality within the long term care profession," stated AHCA/NCAL President and CEO, Bruce Yarwood. "This facility's achievement places it at the forefront of organizational and performance excellence, where the mission of quality care for the elderly and disabled is vigorously pursued."

"Hearthstone's achievement shows that dedicated frontline caregivers, administrators, and nurses are demonstrating their commitment to quality of care and to meeting residents' needs," continued Yarwood. The Quality Awards are part of AHCA/NCAL's Quality First, an initiative to demonstrate the long term care community's commitment to a person-centered environment of quality and choice.

AHCA/NCAL's Quality Award was created in 1996 and is modeled after the criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's premier award recognizing distinguished achievements. AHCA/NCAL's award is designed to support both continuous quality improvement efforts in long term care by promoting quality awareness and education and to recognize quality achievements.

Hearthstone is a 58-apartment Assisted Living Community that provides an exceptional quality of care for seniors. They are open to taking Respite Care residents for short-term stays and also provide excellent services for Assisted Living residents with higher level needs. The Hearthstone Mission is: "To Serve with Love, Respect and Integrity."