By Tammy Gettinger
Woodlawn Hospital

Tammy Gettinger

ROCHESTER — If you have looked up a health care organization online or walked into a hospital, you will see all these accreditations and certifications. They are often short acronyms for a more extended series of words.

Accreditations are standards health care organizations are asked to reach to provide quality and safe care. Outside experts audit them to make sure they continue to maintain these standards of excellence. Auditors will go through different departments every few years to ensure health organizations, like Woodlawn, operate with these standards.

Ultimately, the accreditations mean Woodlawn and other health organizations strive to provide our community with quality and safe services for every visit.

Here are some of the accreditations we have locally in our community:
Woodlawn was awarded full accreditation for three years by the Health Care Facility Accreditation Program surveying for compliance with Center for Medicare and Medicaid standards. CMS is like the commissioners of a major league sporting team. They set the rules for almost all health facilities, from large hospitals to smaller critical access hospitals, like the one in Rochester.

Four environmental services professionals recently received the certified Health Care Environmental Services Technician certificate. The CHEST Program is a certification program that requires 24 hours of class time, followed by an online exam and uses a curriculum developed by the American Hospital Association in conjunction with the Association for the Health Care Environment.

Staff who complete this program understand the science, research, and best practices directing what they do and why they do it. These four are now among approximately 2,500 Certified Health care Environmental Services Technicians across the United States.

You will find other accreditations if you wander through the hospital. College of American Pathologists is for our laboratory services. The Sleep Center is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, Stroke Care is from the Health Care Facility Accreditation Program, and Chest Pain is Certified by the Chest Pain Center.

All our doctors and nurse practitioners at Akron, Argos, Fulton, Shafer Medical Clinic, and Woodlawn Medical Professionals were awarded Certificates of Accreditation, noting Exemplary Provider Awards for Outstanding Health Care Delivery Practices as rural health clinics. There are also several accreditations in radiology by the American College of Radiology and our Maternity Oasis.

Ultimately, all the certifications and accreditations show a dedicated team continually training, evaluating processes, and providing safe and excellent care as we earn the right to care for our community.