What is JCAHO?

"The state is here!" cried a doctor from her car as she pulled into the parking lot. My supervisor, walking with me into the hospital, stopped abruptly and slowly covered her hand over her mouth.
"You can't be here" She said as she looked at me.

Of course, I had a heads up for a few weeks, knowing that Jchao (pronounced "JAYCO"), whoever that was, was going to make a surprise visit to review the hospital, and all interns (that's me) were to be sent home. It made sense, I am technically a "volunteer" since I opted not to do my dance therapy internship through my graduate school, but rather for the hours and experience towards my hopeful dance therapy registration in the future, and I don't have formal training. Yet.

So I Googled "Jayco" when I got home and found this blog post, written by the CEO of a Boston hospital, stating why Jcaho, The Joint Commission, is important and necessary. Here is Jcaho's website on hospital standards, and Wikipedia's explanation of who they are and why they're so important for our health and wellbeing.

Good luck, hospital!