AASM accredits Oneida Sleep Center

ONEIDA, N.Y. — The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has accredited the program at the Oneida Healthcare Sleep Center.

DeWitt–based Franciscan Companies manages the Sleep Center at Oneida Healthcare, which is located at 601 Seneca St. in Oneida, AASM said in a news release issued Wednesday. The Franciscan Companies is an affiliate of St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center.

To receive accreditation for a five-year period, a sleep center must “meet or exceed” all standards for professional health care that AASM designates.

These standards address “core” areas such as personnel, facility and equipment, policies and procedures, data acquisition, patient care, and quality assurance, AASM said.

Additionally, the sleep center must “clearly” state its goals and include plans for “positively affecting” the quality of medical care in the community it serves.

In addition to in-lab sleep studies, the Sleep Center is also accredited to perform at-home sleep studies, AASM added.

The Sleep Center at Oneida Healthcare met the “high standards” required for accreditation as a sleep-disorders center, Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler, AASM president, said in the release.

“Oneida Healthcare Sleep Center is an important resource to the local medical community and will provide academic and scientific value in addition to the highest quality care for patients suffering from sleep disorders,” said Morgenthaler.

The sleep center is under the medical direction of Dr. Sherif El Bayadi, diplomat of the American Board of Sleep Medicine. El Bayadi specializes in pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine.

The Darien, Illinois–based American Academy of Sleep Medicine describes itself as a “professional medical society for clinicians, researchers, and other health-care providers in the field of sleep medicine,” according to the release.

It serves as the national accrediting body for sleep-disorders centers, the organization said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com