The Board of Commissioners is The Joint Commission’s governing body, providing policy leadership and oversight. Board members govern The Joint Commission with a dedication to its mission to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations. The full board meets three times a year, with an additional retreat focused on The Joint Commission’s strategic direction.
Board members have diverse experience in health care, business, and public policy. The board consists of 29 individuals, including physicians, administrators, nurses, employers, a labor representative, health plan leaders, quality experts, ethicists, a consumer advocate and educators. Commissioners serve three-year terms that are renewable for up to three terms.
Many board members have clinical experience in the health care fields that The Joint Commission serves, including ambulatory care, behavioral health care, health care networks, home care, hospice, hospitals, laboratories, long term care and assisted living. In addition, advice from experts in these fields is routinely obtained. At-large representatives of the home care, behavioral health care, and long term care fields participate in Board of Commissioners meetings in a non-voting capacity. These direct links to the current health care environment enable board members to guide The Joint Commission in developing state-of-the-art evaluation services.
Board committees and other activities
There are six standing board committees: Executive, Accreditation, Standards and Survey Procedures, Finance and Audit, Human Resources and Compensation Committee, and Governance. Other board committees and task forces in existence in 2008 include the Board Appeal Review Committee, the International Center for Patient Safety Campaign Steering Committee, and four Strategic Issues Work Groups on Data Use Oversight, Future Value of Accreditation, Performance Measurement and Public Policy.
Six members of the Board of Commissioners also serve on the Board of Directors of Joint Commission Resources, Inc., a not-for-profit affiliate of The Joint Commission that provides national and international consulting for the health care community in addition to worldwide accreditation services. The JCR board also includes nine external representatives.
Board members also serve on or are liaisons to a number of other Joint Commission groups including: Professional and Technical Advisory Committees, the Nursing Advisory Council, the Public Advisory Group on Health Care Quality, the Business Advisory Group, the Surveyor Advisory Committee and the Work Group on Accreditation Issues for Small and Rural Hospitals.
2008 Board of Commissioners
Chair
David L. Nahrwold, M.D.
Emeritus Professor of Surgery
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
Chicago, Ill.
Vice chair
David A. Whiston, D.D.S.
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Falls Church, Va.
Rhonda M. Anderson, R.N., D.N.Sc. F.A.A.N., F.A.C.H.E.
Pediatric Administrator and Regional Pediatric Service Line Administrator
Banner Children’s Hospital at Banner Desert Medical Center
Mesa, Ariz.
Alexander Morgan Capron
University Professor
Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics
Professor of Law and Medicine
Co-Director, Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics
University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Los Angeles, Calif.
Mark R. Chassin, M.D., M.P.P., M.P.H.
President
The Joint Commission
Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.
Marilyn P. Chow, R.N., D.N.Sc., F.A.A.N.
Vice President, National Patient Care Services
Kaiser Permanente
Oakland, Calif.
Ilene Corina
President
PULSE of New York, Inc.
Wantagh, N.Y.
Joseph T. English, M.D.
System Chairman
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York
Sidney E. Frank Professor, Chairman and Associate Dean
New York Medical College
New York, N.Y.
Mary T. Herald, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Internist and Endocrinologist
Summit, N.J.
New York, N.Y.
Joseph M. Heyman, M.D.
Gynecologist
Caring for Women
Amesbury Health Center
Amesbury, Mass.
Isabel V. Hoverman, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Internist
Austin Internal Medicine Associates, LLP
Austin, Texas
M. Nicole Jamali, M.D.
Internist and Hospitalist
Aliso Viejo, Calif.
Craig W. Jones, F.A.C.H.E.
President
Oklahoma Hospital Association
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Edward L. Langston, M.D., R.Ph.
Family Physician
Private Practice
Lafayette, Ind.
Eric B. Larson, M.D., M.P.H., M.A.C.P.
Executive Director, Center for Health Studies
Group Health Cooperative
Seattle, Wash.
Jodi J. Mansfield
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Shands HealthCare
Gainesville, Fla.
LaMar S. McGinnis, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S.
Senior Medical Consultant
American Cancer Society
Atlanta, Ga.
Ralph W. Muller
Chief Executive Officer
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Philadelphia, Pa.
Kurt D. Newman, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Executive Director
Joseph E. Robert, Jr. Center for Surgical Care
Surgeon-in-Chief, Children’s National Medical Center
Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics
George Washington University School of Medicine
Washington, D.C.
Herbert Pardes, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Rebecca J. Patchin, M.D.
Physician and Surgeon
Riverside, Calif.
Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., M.S.H.A., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.M.I.
Chief Medical Officer and President, Clinical Services
HCA/Hospital Corporation of America
Nashville, Tenn.
Christopher J. Queram
President and Chief Executive Officer
Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality
Madison, Wis.
J. James Rohack, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.P.
Senior Staff Cardiologist
Scott and White Clinic
Temple, Texas
Gerald M. Shea
Assistant to the President for External Affairs
American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
Washington, D.C.
J.B. Silvers, Ph.D.
Elizabeth and William Treuhaft Professor of Health Systems Management
Professor of Banking and Finance
Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Weatherhead School of Management
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Ronald G. Spaeth, F.A.C.H.E., M.B.A.
Past President
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Foundation
Evanston, Ill.
Margaret T. Stanley, M.H.A.
Executive Director
Puget Sound Health Alliance
Seattle, Wash.
Josie R. Williams, M.D., M.M.M.
Director, Rural and Community Health Institute
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine and Family Medicine
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center
College Station, Texas
Kristy Wright, R.N., M.B.A., F.A.A.N.
Home Care Representative (non-voting)
President and CEO
VNA Services and Foundation, Western Pennsylvania
Butler, Pa.
Mary K. Ousley
Long Term Care Representative (non-voting)
President
Ousley and Associates, LLC
Richmond, Ky.
Michael F. Hogan, Ph.D.
Behavioral Health Care Representative (non-voting)
Commissioner
New York State Office of Mental Health
Albany, New York