Moore Regional earns national recognition for respiratory care

Moore Regional earns national recognition for respiratory care

F. Farrell Collins, M.D.

PINEHURST – FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital has been named a Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) hospital for 2010 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 (or 15 percent) of the hospitals in the United States applied for and received this award.

F. Farrell Collins, M.D.., a board certified pulmonologist with Pinehurst Medical Clinic, serves as medical director for Moore Regional’s respiratory services program.

“This is a great honor, and 100 percent of the credit should go to the hardworking respiratory therapists who day in and day out deliver great care for patients and have for many years under the very able leadership of clinical specialist William Mashburn,” Dr. Collins says.

The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) started the QRCR program in 2003 to help consumers identify facilities that use 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 the recognition, Moore Regional Hospital 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 or hold the CRT (certified respiratory therapists) or RRT (registered respiratory therapist) 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
• Hospital policy prohibits the routine delivery of medicated aerosol treatments using small volume nebulizers, metered dose inhalers or intermittent positive pressure treatments to multiple patients simultaneously

According to lead therapist Keith Bobbitt, RRT, RCP, every respiratory therapist who works at Moore Regional has graduated from a credentialed respiratory care program and is licensed by the state of North Carolina Respiratory Care Board.

“When therapists are hired, they also go through an orientation period where competences are performed for every procedure they will perform at Moore Regional,” he says.

Respiratory therapists are specially trained health care professionals who work under physician’s orders to provide a wide range of breathing treatments and other services to people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, AIDS and other lung or lung-related conditions. They also care for premature infants and are key members of lifesaving response teams charged with handling medical emergencies.

“I am very proud of the therapists who provide the expert care to our patients,” says Mashburn, the respiratory care clinician at Moore Regional.

The QRCR program grew out of growing concerns among health care leaders and the general public regarding the safety and quality of health care services provided to patients. Hospitals meeting the QRCR requirements provide a level of respiratory care consistent with national standards and guidelines.

The AARC is a membership organization that represents more than 46,000 health professionals involved in respiratory care nationwide.