CELINA-Cumberland River Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for accreditation by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s Laboratory Accreditation Program’s national standards for health care quality and safety in laboratories. The accreditation award recognizes Cumberland River Hospital’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards.

Cumberland River Hospital underwent a rigorous unannounced on-site survey by a team of Joint Commission experts who evaluated Cumberland River Hospital for compliance with standards of care that directly affect the quality and safety of diagnostic services and patient care.

“With Joint Commission accreditation, we are making a significant investment in quality on a day-to-day basis from the top down. Joint Commission accreditation provides us a framework to take our organization to the next level and helps create a culture of excellence,” says Andrea Rich-McLerran, Chief Administrative Officer, Cumberland River Hospital.  “For our organization, achieving Joint Commission accreditation is a major step toward maintaining excellence and continually improving the care we provide.”

“In achieving Joint Commission accreditation, Cumberland River Hospital has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its patients,” says Jennifer Rhamy, M.B.A., M.A., M.T. (ASCP) SBB, HP, Executive Director, Laboratory Accreditation Program, The Joint Commission. “Accreditation is a voluntary process and I commend Cumberland River Hospital for successfully undertaking this challenge to elevate its standard of care and instill confidence in the community it serves.”

The Joint Commission has been evaluating and accrediting laboratory services since 1979. Today, The Joint Commission accredits almost 2,000 organizations providing laboratory services. This represents almost 3,000 Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment certificate laboratories, including independent reference labs and in vitro fertilization labs, and those connected with other health care organizations such as hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and long-term care facilities.

The Joint Commission’s laboratory standards emphasize the results a laboratory should achieve instead of emphasizing the technical methods of performing testing, and were developed with input from professional laboratory organizations. Joint Commission standards address processes that follow laboratory specimens from the doctor’s order into the laboratory from specimen collection then back to the patient through result reporting, focusing on the provision of high quality, safe laboratory services integrated with patient care. These standards highlight the essential nature of laboratory services on the actual care and service delivery processes that contribute to and support the overall health care delivery system.

An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org or visit Cumberland River Hospital’s website at www.cumberlandriverhospital.com.