HOULTON, Maine — Most of 2020 has been consumed by the events and issues surrounding COVID-19. However, that didn’t stop the laboratory at Houlton Regional Hospital from completing a successful state Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments inspection of their laboratory services.
“A thorough inspection of the laboratory and its functions is performed every two years. On June 30, all aspects of HRH laboratory were evaluated by an external surveyor,” said Sherry Foster, MLT(ASCP).
“The survey of the laboratory’s processes consisted of instrumentation validations, personnel qualifications and credentials, employee competency and evaluations, external proficiency testing programs, policy and procedure manuals, new test implementations, quality control performance, quality assurance monitors, verification checks, internal quality programs, patient report examples, and a comprehensive review of blood bank,” she said.
“Upon completion of the survey, the laboratory received a perfect score of 100 percent in compliance,” Foster said.
HRH provides laboratory services consisting of blood bank, coagulation, hematology, chemistry/special chemistry, blood gas, urinalysis/urine drug screens, point of care, and microbiology.
“The technicians and phlebotomy staff are highly trained and skilled personnel. Coverage is supplied 24 hours a day, 365 days each year, servicing an active emergency department, inpatients, several area nursing home facilities and outpatients,” said Foster, who has worked in the lab for 36 years.
She said the lab uses a shared governance model of management structure, in which seven committees share leadership responsibilities.
“Each member of the laboratory is on at least one committee. This management structure has been successfully in place for over 20 years. The staff at HRH Laboratory demonstrates quality, compassionate care, by exceptional people,” she said.
