Woodson Health Clinic Achieves Prestigious CAP Accreditation

Story by Russell Tafuri

Blanchfield Army Community Hospital

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, IL – Woodson Health Clinic recently demonstrated its commitment to excellence in laboratory testing by passing a rigorous inspection by the College of American Pathologists. The inspection verified the clinic’s compliance with over 120 standards and requirements, solidifying its position as a trusted provider of high-quality laboratory services.

As part of the Defense Health Agency policy, all laboratory testing, including point-of-care testing and provider-performed microscopy, must be CAP accredited.

To achieve accreditation, labs must demonstrate compliance with testing and lab-type specific requirements, covering all facets of laboratory testing, including laboratory management, personnel requirements, and duties, pre-analytic, analytic, and post-analytic processes. The inspection process is rigorous, with the main laboratory at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital required to meet over 1,750 standards and requirements.

“Blanchfield Army Community Hospital Health System is proud of our Woodson Health Clinic team for their dedication to excellence in laboratory testing,” said BACH Commander Col. Sam Preston. “The team’s achievement of CAP accreditation marks a significant milestone and highlights their commitment to quality and patient safety.”

WHC Chief of Primary Care Col. Mary Ayres echoed Preston’s remarks, “It is a true pleasure to work alongside this team of professionals who strive to provide quality, effective healthcare to our patients.”

According to Ayres, the WHC lab is a team of one with a dedicated and devoted employee. “Locally, Ms. Stacey Jewell single-handedly prepared the lab for the CAP inspection. Our lab’s quality and safety are a direct reflection of her attention to detail and pride in her work on behalf of the Rock Island Arsenal community.”

The CAP accreditation cycle requires annual inspections, with CAP or a CAP representative inspecting every other year. Intensive self-inspections are expected to occur in alternating years. Woodson Health Clinic’s accreditation demonstrates its ability to meet the highest standards in laboratory testing.

BACH’s laboratory plays a critical role in supporting Woodson Health Clinic, managing the Point of Care Program and establishing processes and authorized procedures, providing training and quality monitoring for testing, quality control, and maintenance. The team at Woodson Health Clinic has demonstrated a commitment to excellence by seeking guidance, implementing proper procedures, and taking corrective actions as needed.

Ancillary Lab Services, a division of BACH’s laboratory, provides support to Woodson Health Clinic, managing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Program (CLIP) certificate and medical directorship for the site, as well as four other out-of-state facilities.

The CAP’s unique peer-inspection model benefits both the laboratories being inspected and the laboratories providing the inspection teams. The inspection teams are trained, practicing laboratory professionals who understand the workflows and challenges faced by laboratories.

CAP Laboratory Accreditation helps laboratories maintain accuracy of test results, ensure accurate patient diagnosis, meet required standards, and manage rapidly evolving changes in laboratory medicine and technology.

“We are committed to providing safe quality laboratory services that meet the highest standards,” said BACH Laboratory Manager Capt. James Gregory Phillips Jr. “The efforts of the Woodson team to achieve CAP accreditation demonstrates their ability to offer safe reliable lab services and their dedication to excellence and patient safety.”

The BACH Health System focuses on those areas that add value to support the organization’s mission, which states, “Without compromise, we are committed to healthcare excellence, delivering readiness for our warfighters, families and community.”

This mission directly supports the BACH Health System vision that Blanchfield is the gold standard military health system; transforming healthcare, readiness, and training because of our people, innovation, and service.