Barnesville Hospital Awarded Accreditation From Joint Commission

L-R: Shawn Meier, BS, MT. (ASCP), Julie Nagy, BS, MT. (ASCP),
Lori Leary, BS, MT. (ASCP), and Cindy Soltesz, BS, MT. (ASCP)

By demonstrating compliance with the Joint Commission's national standards for health care quality and safety, Barnesville Hospital's Laboratory has earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval.

"We sought accreditation for our laboratory because we want to demonstrate our commitment to patient safety and quality care," says Richard Doan, CHE, CEO. "We view obtaining Joint Commission accreditation as another step toward achieving excellence."

"We continually strive to improve the quality of our services, and meeting the Joint Commission's rigorous national standards is an important recognition for our efforts," said Lori Leary, BS, MT. (ASCP), Laboratory Manager. According to Ms. Leary, "The Joint Commission evaluated the laboratory's performance in complying with standards related to quality control, safety, infection control, leadership, management of human resources, management of information, ongoing performance improvement activities, and other issues."

Founded in 1951, the Joint Commission is dedicated to improving the quality of the nation's health care through voluntary accreditation. "The accreditation process helps promote continuous, systematic, and organization-wide improvement in health care organizations," says Joanne Born, executive director, Laboratory Accreditation Program, Joint Commission. "Achieving accreditation demonstrates Barnesville Hospital's commitment to providing high quality and safe services."

Dr. Sam Nassar, Laboratory Director, says efforts to improve don't stop when the Joint Commission survey is over. "Meeting the standards and achieving excellence is a continuous process," he says. "No matter how well we did today, we want to do better tomorrow."