| For Immediate Release | Contact: Joyce Brennan |
| November 12, 2008 | 508-961-5270 |
| brennanj@southcoast.org | |
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NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The three hospitals that make up Southcoast Hospitals Group have been granted accreditation by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). Accreditation follows an intensive onsite assessment by specially trained AABB assessors and establishes that the level of medical, technical and administrative performance within the facility meets or exceeds the standards set by the AABB.
"The AABB accreditation is significant because it reflects the high level of professional proficiency achieved by our blood bank and transfusion staff every day," said Nancy Chadbourne, Team Leader, Southcoast Blood Bank.
The AABB accreditation program is voluntary and assists blood banks and transfusion services in determining whether methods, procedures, personnel knowledge, equipment and the physical plant exceed requirements. The AABB's accreditation covers services provided at the three hospital sites. John K. Laverty, MD, is the Medical Director of the St. Luke's and Tobey blood banks, and Thomas Kiefer, MD, is the Medical Director of the Charlton blood bank.
Southcoast Hospitals Group has laboratories at all three hospital sites, but the only sites that collect blood donations for the community are located at the Southcoast Blood Bank at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and on the Southcoast Health Van. For more information visit http://www.southcoast.org/bloodbank/.
AABB is an international non-profit membership organization dedicated to advancing the field of transfusion medicine and related biological therapies. To learn more go to www.aabb.org.
About Southcoast
Southcoast Health System is a community based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes the three hospitals that make up Southcoast Hospitals Group — Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast provides advanced clinical services, such as open heart surgery, angioplasty and heart rhythm services, neurosurgery, weight loss surgery, orthopedic surgery and advanced imaging services. Southcoast is a not-for-profit charitable organization that depends on the support of the community to provide services.
More information is available onlinwww.southcoast.org.
Media Contact
Joyce Faria Brennan
Public Information Officer
Phone: 508-961-5270
Pager: 508-387-9605
Fax: 508-961-5876
brennanj@southcoast.org
