Each of the Province’s Medical Laboratories Receive Accreditation

Patient safety has been further enhanced with the accreditation of all of the province’s medical laboratories. These facilities have been assessed and granted four-year accreditation certificates by the Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH). The Cameron Report on the Commission of Inquiry on Hormone Receptor Testing included the recommendation that all medical laboratories in the province be accredited.

“Addressing the recommendations of Madame Justice Cameron has been and remains a priority for our government,” said the Honourable Susan Sullivan, Minister of Health and Community Services. “Each of these laboratories has undergone a comprehensive and rigorous assessment to meet the standards established by the Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare. Through this process, the public can be assured that laboratory medicine in Newfoundland and Labrador is practised to a very high standard.”

The IQMH was contracted by the Provincial Government to lead and complete the accreditation process. Accreditation is a peer review process which ensures that laboratories meet explicit quality management criteria, standardize their processes, and meet national benchmarks. Each of the province’s 38 labs was visited and assessed by IQMH representatives. Any corrective needs were identified and addressed and the laboratories then received accreditation. A full list of the laboratories can be found in the backgrounder below.

“I am extremely pleased with the significant progress our government has made towards implementing the recommendations of Justice Margaret Cameron since we received her report in March 2009,” said Minister Sullivan. “Since receiving the Commission of Inquiry on Hormone Receptor Testing Report, we have invested approximately $43 million to respond directly to the recommendations.”

The Provincial Government, in collaboration with the regional health authorities and the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information has completed or substantially completed 55 of the Cameron Report’s 60 recommendations. The remaining five recommendations are partially complete.

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Media contact:
Jennifer Tulk
Director of Communications
Department of Health and
Community Services
709-729-1377, 699-6524
jennifertulk@gov.nl.ca 

BACKGROUNDER
Medical Laboratories Recently Accredited by the
Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare

Central Health
A.M. Guy Memorial Health Centre, Buchans
Baie Verte Peninsula Health Centre, Baie Verte
Bay d'Espoir Community Health Centre, St. Alban’s
Brookfield/Bonnews Health Centre, Brookfield
Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre, Grand Falls-Windsor
Connaigre Peninsula Health Centre, Harbour Breton
Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Centre, Botwood
Fogo Island Health Centre, Fogo
Green Bay Health Centre, Springdale
James Paton Memorial Regional Health Centre, Gander
Lewisporte Health Centre, Lewisporte
Notre Dame Bay Memorial Health Centre, Twillingate

Eastern Health
Bonavista Peninsula Health Centre, Bonavista
Burin Peninsula Health Care Centre, Burin
Carbonear General Hospital, Carbonear
Dr. A.A. Wilkinson Memorial Health Centre, Old Perlican
Dr. G.B. Cross Memorial Hospital, Clarenville
Dr. Leonard A. Miller Centre, St. John’s
Dr. Walter Templeman Health Care Centre, Bell Island
Dr. Wm H. Newhook Community Health Centre, Whitbourne
Grand Bank Health Centre, Grand Bank
Health Sciences Centre, St. John’s
Placentia Health Centre, Placentia
Public Health Laboratory, St. John’s
St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital, St. John’s
U.S. Memorial Health Centre, St. Lawrence

Labrador-Grenfell Health
Captain William Jackman Memorial Hospital, Labrador City
Charles S. Curtis Memorial Hospital, St. Anthony
Labrador Health Centre, Happy Valley-Goose Bay
Labrador South Health Centre, Forteau
Strait of Belle Isle Health Centre, Flower’s Cove
White Bay Central Health Centre, Roddickton

Western Health
Bonne Bay Health Centre, Norris Point
Calder Health Centre, Burgeo
Dr. Charles L. LeGrow Health Care Centre, Port aux Basques
Rufus Guinchard Health Centre, Port Saunders
Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital, Stephenville
Western Memorial Regional Hospital, Corner Brook

2013 01 17                      11:25 a.m.