McLeod Medical Center Dillon Laboratory Awarded Joint Commission Accreditation

McLEOD DILLION 24 NOVEMBER 2010

(11/24/10) –
By demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety, McLeod Medical Center Dillon Laboratory has earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™.

"We continually seek to raise our standards of commitment to patient safety and quality care. This survey serves as a tool that we can use to validate the practices that we do well and to learn of systems and processes that other organizations have in place that might enhance work here," said Madge Hamer, Director of Laboratory Services for McLeod Medical Center Dillon. "We view obtaining Joint Commission accreditation as another step toward achieving excellence."

"The accreditation process helps promote continuous, systematic and organization-wide improvement in health care organizations," says Gina Zimmermann, M.S., senior executive director, The Joint Commission. "Achieving accreditation demonstrates McLeod Medical Center Dillon’s commitment to providing high quality and safe services."

The national standards are intended to stimulate continuous, systematic and organization-wide improvement in an organization’s performance and the outcomes of care. This accreditation is another way that McLeod Medical Center Dillon is focusing on the most challenging goal — to continuously raise quality and safety to higher levels.

The Joint Commission conducted an unannounced, on-site evaluation of McLeod Medical Center Dillon on August 19 and 20, 2010. The accreditation award recognizes McLeod Medical Center Dillon’s dedication to complying with the Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards on a continuous basis.

Debbie Locklair, Administrator for McLeod Medical Center Dillon called the accreditation, "evidence of an organization-wide commitment to provide quality care on an ongoing basis."

About The Joint Commission
Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including more than 9,500 hospitals and home care organizations, and more than 6,300 other health care organizations that provide long term care, behavioral health care, laboratory and ambulatory care services. In addition, The Joint Commission also provides certification of more than 1,000 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.

About McLeod Medical Center Dillon
A 79-bed community, not-for-profit, acute-care hospital, McLeod Dillon has a long history of providing quality care to its community. Committed to improving the health status of those it serves, McLeod has invested in services and technology in an unceasing effort to meet the health needs of the Dillon community.

The hospital was the 1998 recipient of the SC Governor’s Quality Award, given by the SC Quality Forum based on the Malcolm Baldridge criteria and the recipient of the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s South Carolina Safety Award.

McLeod Medical Center Dillon is committed to improving the health status of those it serves by offering the following superlative services in the following areas: Inpatient Care, Pediatrics, Intensive Care, Emergency Services, Urology, General Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Orthopedic Surgery, Maternity Services, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Rehabilitative Services, Podiatry, Family Medicine, and Internal Medicine.

McLeod Medical Center Dillon invests in state of the art technology to enhance the following diagnostic services offered to those it serves including: Open MRI, Digital Mammography, 3D/4D Ultrasounds, CT Scans, Spiral CT Scans, Nuclear Studies, Laboratory, and Vascular Studies.

For more information, visit www.mcleodhealth.org/dillon.