Springhill Medical Center Earns AABB Accreditation for Transfusion Activities

Springhill Medical Center President/CEO Jeff St. Clair announced that SMC’s Laboratory has been granted AABB accreditation for transfusion activities.
Accreditation follows an intense on-site assessment by specially trained AABB assessors and establishes that the level of technical and administrative performance within the facility meets or exceeds the standards set by AABB. By successfully meeting those requirements, Springhill Medical Center joins similar facilities located throughout the United States and around the world that also have earned AABB Accreditation.
“The AABB’s Accreditation procedures are voluntary,” Mr. St. Clair explained. “Springhill has sought AABB Accreditation because this program assists facilities around the world in achieving excellence by promoting a level of professional and technical expertise that contributes to quality performance and patient safety.”
AABB’s Accreditation Program contributes to the quality and safety of collecting, processing, testing, distributing and administering blood and cellular therapy products. The Accreditation Program assesses the quality and operational systems in place within a facility. The basis for assessment is compliance with AABB standards, Code of Federal Regulations and other federal guidance documents.
The AABB Accreditation program has been recognized by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua). In June 1995, AABB was granted “deemed status” as an accrediting organization under the clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA ‘88) program. This granting of “deemed status” indicates that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has found the AABB accreditation process to provide reasonable assurance that the facilities accredited by it meet or exceed the conditions required by federal law and regulations.
Established in 1947, AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks) is an international, not-for-profit association dedicated to the advancement of science and the practice of transfusion medicine and related biological therapies. The association is committed to improving health by developing and delivering standards, accreditation and educational programs and services to optimize patient and donor care and safety.
Springhill Medical Center is a 263-bed acute care hospital accredited by TJC. Since 1975, Springhill has grown and expanded its services in the southwest Alabama market while maintaining more nurses to each patient for a personal approach. The medical center provides full surgical capabilities including open-heart and robotic surgery, as well as complete diagnostic capabilities. Today, SMC includes the hospital, a unique and comprehensive heart center, senior residence, sleep medicine center, cancer center, orthopaedic surgery center, wound care and hyperbaric center, and an emergency department staffed by all board-certified emergency medicine physicians.
Original Article