High scores for Sault Area Hospital lab

NEWS RELEASE

SAULT AREA HOSPITAL *************************** SAH lab excels in Ontario laboratory accreditation assessment

SAULT STE. MARIE - As part of a mandatory accreditation review, evaluators were recently on site at SAH to perform an intense external appraisal of the hospital lab.

Quality management program-laboratory services is operated by the Ontario Medical Association and serves as an agent of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in administering the Ontario laboratory accreditation (OLA) program for licensed medical laboratories in Ontario.

The results of this comprehensive assessment revealed an exceptional 96.4 percent compliance rate against more than 480 individual performance measures.

This score places SAH at the forefront of laboratories in the province.

The latest results compare with a 90.9 percent rating during the last accreditation in 2004.

“This is a testament to the fact that the Sault Area Hospital takes a back seat to no other hospital in Ontario when it comes to the provision of laboratory services to its patients,” states Dr. Sylvia Asa, laboratory medical director for SAH and pathologist-in-chief and medical director, Laboratory Medicine program, University Health Network. “This level of achievement is remarkable and deserving of recognition.”

The Sault Area Hospital Laboratory employs 76 individuals including medical laboratory technologists and assistants, pathologists, pathology assistants and phlebotomists.

The lab provides services such as chemistry, hematology, transfusion services, microbiology, histopathology, cytology, phlebotomy, point of care testing and autopsy services, performing approximately 1.5 million procedures each year.

“We are extremely proud of the dedication to quality demonstrated by our tremendously talented staff, under the outstanding leadership of manager Kelli-Ann Lemieux,” adds Tracy MacDonald, SAH vice-president and chief operating officer. “Results like these don’t just happen and are simply the latest illustration of how our people throughout the hospital routinely excel in delivering excellent care to our patients.”

For more information about laboratory accreditation, click here

To find out more about SAH, click here

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