Hudson, Florida (October 10, 2012) – Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point’s hospital laboratory has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ for accreditation by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for healthcare quality and safety in laboratories. The accreditation award recognizes Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point’s dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards. RMCBP’s laboratory underwent a rigorous, unannounced on-site survey on July 24. A team of Joint Commission experts evaluated the laboratory for compliance with standards of care that directly affect the quality and safety of diagnostic services and patient care.
“In achieving Joint Commission accreditation, the laboratory at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has demonstrated its commitment to the highest level of care for its patients,” says Jennifer Rhamy, MBA, MA, MT, Executive Director Laboratory Accreditation Program, The Joint Commission. “Accreditation is a voluntary process and I commend Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point’s laboratory for successfully undertaking this challenge to evaluate its standards of care and instill confidence in the community it serves.”
The Joint Commission has been evaluating and accrediting laboratory services since 1979. 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, safety laboratory services integrated with patient care. The standards highlight the essential nature of laboratory services on actual care and service delivery processes that contribute to and support the overall healthcare delivery system.
RMCBP associate administrator Dajana Yoakley congratulated the laboratory for a very successful Joint Commission survey. “There were compliments from the surveyor on all areas of the lab. The highlighted best practice was the blood bank refrigerator in the emergency department for trauma patients. Our surveyor was one of two dedicated surveyors that only visit HCA hospitals, and stated that she has been looking for the best HCA laboratory and that she has found it here, at Bayonet Point. Congratulations to laboratory director Ralph Uzzi and his dedicated team for this deserving recognition!”
About The Joint Commission
Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including more than 8,000 hospitals and home care organizations, and more than 6,800 other health care organizations that provide long term care, assisted living, behavioral health care, laboratory and ambulatory care services. The Joint Commission also accredits health plans, integrated delivery networks, and other managed care entities. In addition, the Joint Commission provides certification of disease-specific care programs, primary stroke centers, and health care staffing services. 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.
Attachment: Award Letter from Joint Commission.
About Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point
Regional Medical Center Bayonet has been serving the community since 1981. We are a 290-bed acute care hospital located in Hudson, FL and home of the nationally acclaimed Heart Institute. We have more than 350 physicians, 900 employees and 500 volunteers on our integrated healthcare delivery team.
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has been approved by the Florida Department of Health, Office of Trauma, as a Provisional Level 2 Trauma Center. This designation means critically injured patients may have access to treatment in the “golden hour.” This is the first hour after a serious injury in which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical attention will prevent death. Through an affiliation with the University of South Florida Health, RMCBP has the support of a major academic university and medical school. A Trauma Center in our community means faster treatment to improve patient outcomes and keep patients close to home and their loved ones.
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has achieved distinction in the following areas:
- Recipient of the 2011 American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award.
- Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point is the only hospital in Tampa Bay area to achieve the Gold Plus standard in both heart failure and stroke.
- Recognized in 2011 as one of the nation’s top performing hospitals in quality measurements by the Joint Commission, the nation’s leading healthcare accrediting body.
- Certified Advance Primary Stroke Center – Joint Commission
- Accredited Chest Pain Center, with PCI – Society of Chest Pain Centers
- Certified Advanced Heart Failure – Joint Commission (1st in the State of Florida – 1/2010)
- Heart & Stroke Champions Award Winner 1998 – 2010
- American Heart Association’s 2009 Stroke Silver Plus Performance Award Winner (1st in State of Florida)
- Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine
- MRI, CT, Ultrasound, and Nuclear Medicine Accredited – American College of Radiology
- Approved, with Commendation, Community Cancer Program – American College of Surgeons.
- Designated a 100 Top Hospital seven years by Thomson Reuters
- Named twice (1999 & 2002) by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Hospitals in Heart and Heart Surgery.
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point is located at14000 Fivay Road
Hudson, FL. 34667. For additional information on Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point visit www.rmchealth.com or www.heartoftampa.com. Or visit us on Facebook.