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LRMC earns quality respiratory care recognition

By Staff | Feb 9, 2010

Lehigh Regional Medical Center has earned Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) under a national program aimed at helping patients and families make

informed decisions about the quality of the respiratory care services available in hospitals.

About 700 hospitals or approximately 15 percent of the hospitals in the U.S. have applied for and received this award, according to hospital officials.

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.

“This national recognition by the AARC just confirms the quality we know is present in the respiratory services delivered at Lehigh Regional Medical

Center,” said Jos F. Morillo, LRMC CEO.

To qualify for the recognition, Lehigh Regional Medical Center provided documentation showing it meets 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.

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.

“The citizens in your community are lucky to have a facility such as yours, in which they can be assured of receiving the highest standards of respiratory

care”, Sherry Milligan, AARC associate executive director said.