Week of COLA Events also Includes Honoring U.S. Surgeon General
COLUMBIA, MD, August 14, 2012 – COLA, a leading laboratory accreditor, today announced it will sponsor a week-long series of programs and events in Baltimore October 8-13 designed to highlight current healthcare issues and their impact on clinical laboratories, including a major symposium which is expected to draw medical professionals from across the U.S. COLA also announced it will present its 2012 Perry A. Lambird Memorial Excellence in Medicine Award to Dr. Regina Benjamin, the U.S. Surgeon General.
The COLA Symposium for Clinical Laboratories is expected to attract several hundred laboratory medicine experts, physicians, diagnostic laboratory staff, physician assistants, nurses and other medical personnel to Baltimore for a national dialogue about topics of interest to the physician office and hospital laboratory community.
The accreditor is sponsoring the conference and other events as the laboratory industry begins to prepare for more than 33 million new patients to come into the healthcare system as a result of the Affordable Care Act -- despite alarming shortages within the laboratory workforce.
“Lab testing has an estimated impact on over 70 percent of medical decisions, a percentage that will only grow as baby boomers retire and preventive coverage – including screening tests performed by labs – increases as part of federal healthcare reform,” said Douglas Beigel, CEO of COLA. “But there are more than 40,000 current lab jobs that are vacant in the United States, and the size of tomorrow’s projected shortage is even more daunting.
“We hope to highlight potential solutions to this and other challenges affecting the healthcare and laboratory industries during this week of events, including a major educational symposium, trainings, community outreach activities and the presentation of COLA scholarships to laboratory students,” Beigel added.
“We are very proud that COLA’s home city of Baltimore will serve as the backdrop for a national discussion about these critical issues, as well as reap the economic benefit that the symposium and its related activities will bring. And we are extremely honored to confer COLA’s highest honor on Dr. Benjamin for her outstanding contributions to protecting and advancing public health in her role as Surgeon General, and her commitment to programs that fight preventable illness,” he said.
The week-long program will include:
- October 8 - COLA “Give Back Day” program at Morgan State University. Featuring a series of laboratory demonstrations and other presentations by COLA, the “Give Back Day” program is designed to get students at all levels of education excited about the world of laboratory medicine. COLA developed the initiative after exposing students in Baltimore middle schools to the world of laboratory science.
- October 9 - 12 - Training initiatives for COLA’s headquarters and other technical staff, including surveyors from across the U.S. learning about topics relevant to good laboratory practices
- October 10-13 - COLA Symposium for Clinical Laboratories. Jointly sponsored by COLA and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the national conference will feature laboratory medicine experts speaking on a variety of topics of interest to the healthcare community. Featured speakers include Dr. Donna Sweet, a nationally recognized expert on HIV Care, and Judith Yost, Director, Division of Laboratory Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
- October 11 - COLA scholarship presentation to students from Morgan State University and Community College of Baltimore County. A special award also will be given to a laboratory from Joplin, MO for its diligent work in bringing its facility back to operational standards after a tornado demolished their office last year. Other recognition will be given to several individuals who have supported the laboratory industry.
About COLA
COLA accredits almost 8,000 medical laboratories and provides the clinical laboratory with a program of education, consultation, and accreditation. The organization is an independent, non-profit accreditor whose education program and standards enable clinical laboratories and staff to meet U.S. CLIA and other regulatory requirements. For more information about COLA accreditation services and educational products, and online educational opportunities, please call 800-981-9883 or visit COLA's web sites at www.cola.org or www.colainsider.org.