Partners EAP Awarded Highly Regarded Accreditation

Partners HealthCare Employee Assistance Program (EAP), affiliated with seven Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals in the Boston area, has earned accreditation from the Council of Accreditation (COA). Founded in 1977, COA is an independent not-for-profit international accreditor of community-based behavioral health and human services organizations. 

Partners EAP accreditation comes on the heels of several recent acknowledgments for its outstanding services. In 2007, Partners EAP was the sole U.S recipient of the Third Annual Employee Assistance Society of North America Corporate Award for EAP Excellence. Most recently Partners EAP learned it has been selected for the international 2009 EAP Digest/Global Employee Assistance Professional Association Quality Award.

COA accreditation is the hallmark of excellence for EAP providers and has been earned by less than five percent of EAPs internationally. COA identifies providers that have set high performance standards and have made a commitment to their constituents to deliver the highest quality services.  Partners EAP is proud to be recognized as one of these outstanding providers.

Achieving accreditation was a process of rigorous internal review of both Partners EAP’s administrative operations and its service delivery practices that took several years to complete. All were “measured” against national best practice standards that emphasize accessibility, cultural responsiveness, and appropriate workplace interventions. Further standards include evidence based and outcomes-oriented protocols and services provided by a skilled and supported staff, treating all individuals with dignity and respect.

Partners EAP developed and implemented a plan to meet in excess of 400 COA standards requiring a high quality service environment, a commitment to continuous quality improvement, and services responsive to the needs of the organizations that it serves.

“It takes a great deal of commitment and determination to earn and maintain COA accreditation,” says Andrea Stidsen, Director of Partners EAP. “Our EAP must meet specific standards of excellence, and Partners EAP staff makes a commitment to ongoing improvement to ensure that the program will continue to deliver high quality services to all Partners employees."

COA accreditation is an objective and reliable verification that provides confidence and support to Partners EAP’s service recipients, board members, staff and community partners.  COA congratulated Partners EAP for its hard work and wonderful achievement, and communicated its pride in having Partners EAP as part of COA’s Community of Excellence.

In case of emergency, please call 911 or your local hospital emergency service.