Kadena's Medical Group gets a check-up

  • Published
  • By LCpl Brenton Gumucio
  • American Forces Network, Okinawa
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Patients at the Kadena clinic can rest a little easier knowing that the clinic is doing all it can to make sure they get the best possible care.

The 18th Medical Group recently underwent two evaluations simultaneously. The hospital was scored on the nine functional areas of the medical field; breaking the nine fields into about fourteen hundred different criteria.

The first evaluation was conducted by the Air Force Inspection Agency and is the equivalent to the wing's unit compliance inspection. Even more important was the second, completely voluntary evaluation by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, or AAAHC.

Air Force Colonel Kelley Kash, commander of the 18th Medical Group, says, "It's important that we have civilian accreditation so that the community and families know that they are getting top quality care, not only from a military standpoint, but also compared to our civilian counterparts."

Kash also said that having experts here looking at everything will help the hospital because they will be able to say exactly what the clinic could do better.