Company news: Oswego Hospital Lab earns Joint Commission accreditation

OSWEGO, N.Y. — Oswego Hospital has earned the Joint Commission’s “Gold Seal of Approval” for laboratory services accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards.

The hospital’s laboratory underwent a “rigorous,” unannounced on-site three-day survey this fall. During the review, a Joint Commission surveyor evaluated compliance with laboratory standards related to several areas, including document and process control, health-care-associated conditions, risk reduction, and staff qualifications, and competency. The surveyor also conducted on-site observations and interviews.

“The Joint Commission surveyor performed a very thorough survey,” Oswego Hospital’s Laboratory Administrative Director Pat Main said in a news release.

During 2014, hospital-lab employees conducted more than 640,000 lab tests, with another 148,000 tests completed at its Central Square and Fulton medical centers, the release stated.

The hospital lab employs more than 80 people. It includes numerous sub-departments, such as the hematology department where tests on a patient’s blood or blood forming-organs are conducted; a microbiology department where staff study organs and tissues; a chemistry department that examines blood, urine and other fluids; and a pathology department that examines organs and tissues to learn of potential diseases.

The Joint Commission has accredited hospital laboratory services since 1979 and freestanding labs since 1995. More than 1,500 organizations, including laboratories in hospitals, reference labs, blood transfusion and donor centers, public health laboratories, and point-of-care test sites, currently maintain laboratory services accreditation from the Joint Commission. Accreditation is awarded on a two-year cycle, according to the news release.

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