Troubled Washington, DC, hospital improves, regains accreditation

The Joint Commission has announced that Washington DC-based United Medical Center, formerly known as Greater Southeast Community Hospital, has earned accreditation slightly more than a year after losing it in December 2007. A spokeswoman for the commission said that United Medical Center passed a surprise inspection and that its accreditation became effective Jan. 14. In a statement, the hospital's board chairman and president, Eric Rieseberg, called the accreditation "a milestone" that affirmed the efforts of "thousands of people who have worked hard to restore the community's faith in our hospital."