News/PR
Bay Medical Earns Quality Respiratory Care Recognition in National Program
May 6, 2005
Panama City, Florida - Bay Medical has earned Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) from a national program aimed at helping patients and families make informed decisions about the quality of respiratory care services available in hospitals. About 10 percent of hospitals in the United States applied for and received this award. Bay Medical is the only hospital in the Panama City area to receive this recognition.
The QRCR program was started by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) in 2003 to help consumers identify those facilities using qualified respiratory therapists to provide respiratory care. Hospitals earning the QRCR designation ensure patient safety by agreeing to adhere to a strict set of criteria governing their respiratory care services.
To qualify for this recognition, Bay Medical had to meet the following conditions:
- All respiratory therapists employed by the hospital to deliver bedside respiratory care services are either legally recognized by the state as competent to provide respiratory care services or hold the CRT or RRT credential.
- Respiratory therapists are available 24 hours a day.
- Other personnel qualified to perform specific respiratory procedures and the amount of supervision required for personnel to carry out specific procedures must be designated in writing.
- A doctor of medicine or osteopathy is designated as medical director of respiratory care services.
Hospitals that meet the QRCR requirements provide a level of respiratory care consistent with national standards and guidelines.
"All of us providing respiratory care at Bay Medical say 'breathe easy.' This hospital can safely deliver the highest standards of respiratory care services to you and your family," says P.J. Dotson, R.R.T. and Manager of the Pulmonary Nursing Units.
Bay Medical's respiratory care department has 31 Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRT), 11 Certified Respiratory Therapists (CRT), and one Certified Pulmonary Function Technician (CPFT). Bay Medical's Sleep Disorders Laboratory has four RRTs and three CRTs; the Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation department has one CRT.
A list of QRCR hospitals is available at
www.yourlunghealth.org/basic_information/quality_providers/index.cfm.