The College of American Pathologists (CAP) inspectors completed their unannounced inspection of Respiratory Therapy and the Cardiac Cath laboratory last week, commenting that they were very well run, very efficient, and the units were well prepared for the inspection.

Respiratory completes more than 15,600 blood gases per year (which has doubled since the move in 2006), and has three new blood gas machines. Two are located in the Critical Care Unit to serve the hospital, and one is located in Respiratory to provide care to outpatients and to the Emergency Department.

Donna Engle, coordinator for the Pulmonary Diagnostic area, has been at SJMC for 23 years. She has an extensive quality assurance program and performance improvement program. She is also in charge of proficiency testing - samples come from the manufacturer with unknown values. Respiratory runs the samples and reports the values to the company. This assures the values they report clinically are valid and reliable.

Respiratory also can run blood samples for coroner cases and test pleural fluids in addition to their normal blood gas volumes.

Clarinda (Rindy) Gerow, RN, is responsible for the Cath Laboratory’s quality assurance program and CAP proficiency testing. The inspectors were particularly impressed with the cath laboratory’s competency program, stating it should become best practice.

A local couple has donated a print of an original painting entitled, "The Hands" to The Wound Center. The painting was done by their son-in-law.

Bill Wilson, of the Boyertown area, wound up in the Emergency Department of Pottstown Memorial Hospital on Christmas Eve with a serious foot wound. He was put in touch with The Wound Center, and received 40 Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy treatments, vastly improving his wound. Bill is receiving follow up care in the Foot and Ankle Clinic at St. Joe’s.

Ruby, Bill’s wife, said, "Everyone has been so nice, and we appreciate them so much. We wanted to do something for them, and realized the painting would be a nice gesture."

“The painting is so appropriate for The Wound Center,” said Lesley Noble, Hyperbaric Unit. "We work very closely with our patients to help them achieve a higher quality of life."

Their son-in-law, Robert Nailon, painted the original picture. Robert was homeschooled, and received his artistic training from his mother, also an artist. He is currently working with an ad agency in California. Robert and the Wilson’s daughter, Elisha-ba, live in Monrovia, California, with their two year old daughter, Simone.