Gooch & Associates conducted a Mock Survey for JCAHO standards compliance at our hospital in January.  Brian and his team were professional and thorough, finding several areas for improvement.
In February, we were given two weeks notice for our State DOH survey.  Our organization had stepped up readiness based on Gooch & Associates’ suggestions.  We were rewarded with a deficiency free DOH survey, a first for us.

In June, JCAHO conducted our triennial survey.  We were awarded a score of 100.  Words fall short when it comes to describing this event, and I don't think I need to tell those involved with health care quality what this means.  Gooch and Associates are the only consultants we have used in the past five years and they have continued to answer questions and help with strategies since our survey. I would certainly recommend them to anyone looking for quality consultants to prepare their organization for survey or continued readiness.

What David Ainsworth, CEO, Natchez Community Hospital, Natchez, MS said:

I found Mr. Gooch to be highly professional, very experienced, and offered our organization a level of expertise that helped us achieve goals we had previously been unable to obtain. Brian's approach gets to the core issues quickly and his experience and leadership facilitate the development of processes that bring about results, all within budget and on time. His wit and sense of humor kept our team's attention and made the work fun. I highly recommend Gooch & Associates.

From Sandi Swanker, R.N., MSN, CPHQ, Director of Continuous Improvement, Whole Health Management, Cleveland, OH

Mr. Gooch provided timely, accurate, and educational consultation.   While he worked with our company, we felt we were his only client.  He was focused on our needs and issues and was flexible in responding to the most effective ways of helping our organization to understand what was expected of us based on standards.  Most important, Mr. Gooch was practical in his approach and because of his outstanding sense of humor, made what could be a dry tedious task, enjoyable and energizing.

What Mark Milner, Vice President Quality Management at Health First (a three hospital system), Melbourne, FL said:

Health First has been working with Gooch & Associates for several years.  We continue to benefit from his insightful guidance.  On our most recent accreditation surveys (scored 99 and 100, respectively) his collaboration with leaders and staff enabled us to successfully demonstrate the strength of our practices and confirm our compliance with JCAHO standards.

Lisa Hogan, R.N., Director of Ambulatory Services, Arundel Ambulatory Surgery Center, Annapolis, MD

Arundel Ambulatory Surgery Center worked with Gooch and Associates on previous JCAHO surveys with great success.  This was my first experience with the Joint Commission and Mr. Gooch turned a daunting and frightening task into an achievable and fun learning experience.  His professionalism, knowledge, patience and wonderful sense of humor afforded both me and my staff the confidence and tools to successfully complete our survey (we scored 98!).  I would highly recommend Gooch and Associates.  Our facility will continue to utilize his services as we strive to maintain the highest quality of patient care.

Joan Hoffstetter, RN, CPHQ, System Director - Quality Management, Hernando Healthcare, Brooksville, FL

"Gooch and Associates provided our organization with a concise and timely review to assist us in our effort to improve patient care. The information we received was easy to apply and very timely. The follow up support was invaluable to our efforts."

Ken Walsch, Director, Quality/Risk Management, Good Samaritan Hospital, Baltimore, MD 

"Brian Gooch is very knowledgeable in all areas of the JCAHO standards and survey process. He couples his broad knowledge with an excellent teaching and coaching style, that was very effective for staff at all levels. We were also impressed by his on-going support for any follow-up we needed after the on-site consultation. We appreciated his commitment to our success."

Added by Tina Gorsalitz, R.N., Director of Nursing, Superior Endoscopy Center.  Marquette, Michigan

I have worked with Brian Gooch preparing for two JCAHO surveys.  He was not only instrumental in preparing me for the survey on paper and practice, but he was extremely capable in preparing me for the mind set of the survey.  He assisted me in a more complete understanding of the Environment of Care standard, which as a nurse I was finding the most difficult.  My center was awarded "Accreditation with Commendation" on our first survey and we are currently awaiting our second survey.

Denise Pietri, Director Quality Resource Management, Highlands Regional Medical Center, Sebring, FL 

Mr. Gooch is highly professional and very knowledgeable about all aspects of JCAHO and highly respected by our organization for his timeliness, accuracy of findings/issues and educational approach to survey processes.    We found him to very approachable ensuring that we understood the intent and expectations of the JCAHO standards. 

I am writing to thank you and your team at Gooch & Associates for your support in preparing us for our initial JCI accreditation survey.  Our near perfect score for standards compliance speaks volumes about the success of your efforts.  Others on the staff have told me that they particularly appreciated your educative approach.  The medical staff, while not initially supportive, did come to see the value of the accreditation standards.  That was to a large degree the result of your team’s striving to understand our culture and the way medical care is delivered in Turkey and your ability to develop solutions to fit our particular cultural and organizational setting.

Dr. D. Ross Duncan, MBBS, MHP, FRACMA, AFCHSE
Director, Performance Improvement, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Brian was particularly skilled when working directly with our staff. He helped them learn and made them feel respected, with an easy but clear way to make his points so that staff were not embarrassed but felt they had learnt something. He was able to communicate equally well with senior executives and with new staff members. His understanding of the JCI standards and how to apply them in a practical way in different settings was an enormous help to us. The result was that King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center became the fourth hospital in the world accredited under the new JCI international accreditation system. And, we scored a 99%.