The College of American Pathologists (CAP) announced this past spring that University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Chestertown and UM Shore Medical Center at Dorchester’s laboratories successfully met the Laboratory Accreditation Program Standards for Accreditation. This is Chestertown’s 15th bi-annual re-accreditation and Dorchester’s 19th bi-annual re-accreditation of this gold standard accomplishment.
“Chestertown has shown high standards of laboratory excellence since their first inspection in 1991. Dorchester has been participating since 1983, displaying a high standard of excellence in each inspection,” says Juliana Hospodor, director, Laboratory Services, UM Shore Regional Health. “Our teams continuously work to maintain the high standard of care expected by CAP.”
As part of the accreditation process, participating laboratories also do peer inspections of other hospital labs. Recently, UM SMC at Chestertown’s Laboratory Services team received a letter of commendation from CAP for their inspection of another laboratory.
CAP awards accreditation every two years and laboratories must maintain continuous compliance throughout their accreditation term. UM Shore Medical Center at Easton and UM Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown were re-accredited in 2019. This is the 25th re-accreditation of UM SMC at Easton’s Laboratory, which began participating in CAP accreditation in 1971. UM SEC at Queenstown first became accredited in 2011.
“I want to congratulate our entire team on this achievement, as together we help to provide excellence in laboratory medicine services for UM Shore Regional Health,” says Hospodor. “We strive to provide the very best in laboratory medicine to the people of the Eastern Shore each day. This is a significant accomplishment and we are pleased to offer such a high quality commitment to our communities and the patients we serve.”
The College of American Pathologists serves patients, pathologists and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of laboratory medicine; and the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program is the gold standard for laboratory practices throughout the world. For 70 years, CAP has fostered excellence in laboratories and advanced the practice of pathology and laboratory science. There are currently more than 4,800 laboratories in Maryland – but only 130 have achieved CAP Accreditation. The laboratories at UM Shore Regional Health have been participating in the CAP Accreditation program for almost 50 years.
About UM Shore Regional Health: As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,600 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.
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