As SMU continues to improve its facilities and program, recognition is needed where it’s due. This June, the Memorial Health Center did just that.

The Health Center has officially accomplished accreditation by the Accreditation Association Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. (AAAHC).

In order to achieve the accredited status, the Health Center passed a series of “rigorous and national recognized standards for the provision of quality health care.”

This screening process includes an intensive on-site, peer-based survey of its facilities and services.

The Memorial Health Center is one of around 5,000 American ambulatory health centers that are accredited by the AAAHC.

SMU Executive Director of Health Services Patrick A. Hite, FACHE, is very “pleased and proud” of the Health Center’s success.

“We believe accreditation has helped us improve the quality of patient care and that our patients are the ultimate benefactors from our participation in the accreditation program,” Hite said.

The Memorial Health Center has been accredited since 1998. The renewed accreditation will extend through 2014.

Hite believes that “[a]ccreditation underscores our long-standing commitment to providing the highest possible levels of quality care to the community we serve.”

Ambulatory health care organizations that can seek accreditation include single and multi-specialty group practices, ambulatory and office-based surgery centers, college and university health services, managed care systems, dental group practices, community health centers and occupational health centers.