(AHCA/NCAL)

A Maine Veterans’ Home location, Hughes Health and Rehabilitation and Altercare Post-Acute Rehabilitation Center are this year’s winners of the Gold Excellence in Quality Award from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, the organizations announced Friday.

The awards will be presented Oct. 18 during AHCA/NCAL’s annual meeting in Nashville, TN.

The award is the final of three distinct levels possible through the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program. Since the 1996 inception of the program, 31 providers have achieved this level of recognition, which signifies achievement in applying Baldrige Criteria quality improvement standards in the areas of leadership, strategic planning, customer and workforce focus, and operations and knowledge management.

The winning Maine Veterans’ Home, in Scarborough, ME, offers dementia, residential, respite, comfort, long-term, skilled nursing and rehabilitation care. Hughes, in West Hartford, CT, offers dementia care as well as long-term, rehab, respite, palliative and hospice care. Altercare, in Kent, OH, offers skilled nursing and rehab.

AHCA and NCAL previously announced the recipients of its Bronze- and Silver-level awards. A full list of recipients is available online.