SHEFFIELD — On second look, Helen Keller Hospital was given a clean bill of health by the Joint Commission.

The hospital recently underwent a follow-up survey to inspect citations noted from a March visit by the Joint Commission, and hospital CEO Doug Arnold said the second check resulted in no citations.

The Joint Commission is a national not-for-profit accrediting agency that accredits more than 19,000 health care facilities in the United States.

In March, the agency cited Helen Keller for 36 compliance issues. The commission has 1,779 standards it reviews for hospitals.

As a result of the March citations, the hospital was subject to a follow-up survey on just the areas of concern listed in the previous report.

“The reviewer found no issues,” Arnold said.

After the first survey, Arnold said the hospital took steps to correct the citations listed, and all were approved by the commission.

Both Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence and Shoals Hospital in Muscle Shoals also are accredited by the Joint Commission.

Rebecca Michael, quality care manager at Helen Keller, said putting the facility under the microscope is the best way to ensure excellence in patient care.

“You want that additional set of eyes to come in and make sure your practices are best practices,” she said. “You want that critique. The reviewer talked a lot about us being good already, but pushing us to the best practices.”

In September, Helen Keller was on the Top Performer on Key Quality Measures lists from the Joint Commission for the second year in row. The list of honorees was culled from required reporting of standards of care data during 2011.

“The level of patient care hasn’t changed,” Arnold said. “It has always been high.”

Hospitals with full accreditation, like Keller, ECM and Shoals, are reviewed at least once every three years.

Jennifer Edwards can be reached at 256-740-5754 or jennifer.edwards@TimesDaily.com.