Sandhills Regional Medical Center’s laboratory recently passed its biennial inspection with COLA, an accreditation program that ensures labs are in compliance with federal regulatory standards.

The unannounced inspection was performed Jan. 18-19 with the lab receiving nearly less than half the number of findings from its previous survey.

“We cut our deficiencies almost in half from two years ago, and that puts us in the 96th percentile of laboratories accredited with COLA,” said Rhonda Outlaw, SHRMC Laboratory manager. “This means we did better than 96 percent of all labs accredited with COLA.”

The COLA inspection focused specifically this year on quality and calibration. “Their number one concern is to make sure patients are not in jeopardy and that we are not doing anything to put patients at risk,” Outlaw said. “And they didn’t find any patient-related issues. What they found were simplistic fixes.”

Completing COLA’s accreditation program means Sandhills Regional Medical Center’s laboratory is in compliance with CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) requirements, and is recognized by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

The hospital’s lab performs all patients’ specimen testing from something as simple as blood sugar to something as complex as identifying organisms, Outlaw said.

“These inspections are unannounced so you have to maintain continued readiness,” said Michael J. Davis, SHRMC Chief Executive Officer. “We are proud of the results our laboratory received and sincerely appreciate all the time and effort invested by everyone involved in ensuring this positive outcome.”