Wednesday, April 30, 2003

SRMC receives accreditation from National Vascular Laboratory Commission

Southern Regional Health System's Vascular Laboratory was recently recognized by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories for its commitment to providing a high level of patient care and quality testing for the diagnosis of vascular disease.

"We are extremely proud of our new designation," said Donna Waggoner, managing director of cardiovascular laboratory services. "We have the only hospital-based vascular lab with this accreditation in the Southern Crescent. The designation of providing high quality patient care is consistent with the goals of the vascular lab and the entire health system."

In order to receive this accreditation, every aspect of the lab's daily operations and its impact on the quality of health care provided to patients was assessed and reviewed.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, costing more than 83 billion dollars each year in health services, medications and lost work time due to disability. One American dies every 32 seconds of cardiovascular disease. Early detection of these life-threatening vascular diseases is possible through the use of noninvasive vascular testing techniques performed within Southern Regional's vascular laboratory.

Southern Regional Health System offers comprehensive health resources, including: Southern Regional Medical Center, a 406-bed, full-service hospital in Riverdale, featuring a state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center; The Women's Life Center; a Diabetes Resource Center and one of the busiest emergency departments in the state. Southern Regional also provides mental health, home health care, substance abuse treatment and surgery efforts through RiverWoods, Southern Regional Psychiatric Center; Southern Regional Homecare; and the Surgery Center at Mount Zion, located in Morrow.