ROSE HALL, St James — Global recognition of standards at Cornwall Regional Hospital’s medical lab has been a fillip for the commerce and health ministers who hope the move can be replicated at other facilities across the country.

The lab was awarded Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) Global Accreditation on May 8, but it was not until Thursday that there was an official ceremony to mark the accomplishment.

“I’m very happy to see that JANAAC has had this partnership with not just Cornwall Regional Hospital, but medical institutions to promote an evolving model that is a must-have in Jamaica if we’re going to be the kind of world-class country that we are maturing into. This recognition celebrates the laboratory’s achievement and underscores the importance of World Standards Week this week,” noted Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister Senator Aubyn Hill.

“The Cornwall Regional Hospital is now ISO 15189:2012-accredited. It’s a big thing!” he enthused.

The commerce minister noted that the international yardstick will help ensure that CRH provides patient care that is reliable, accurate, and in line with best practices worldwide. He anticipates that, with more Jamaican labs similarly accredited this will translate into the country’s health-care system being sought out by people across the Caribbean and Latin America who are familiar with JANAAC.

Hill encouraged all businesses — especially those in public health, trade and export — to get the JANAAC stamp of approval. He cited benefits including the convenience of food approved by JANAAC not having to go through another round of approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The minister also noted that Jamaica is the only country in the Caribbean authorised to offer global certification.

“[There are] only eight of them in the world and most of them [are] in the United States. We’re the only one in this region, and [there are] another couple in Asia. So Jamaica, through JANAAC, stands out very, very well,” Hill emphasised.

JANAAC provides accreditation services to 77 conformity assessment bodies through laboratories and inspection certification in 11 countries within Caricom. Forty-three of these entities are based in Jamaica. Thirty-five are accredited by JANAAC to various international standards — the largest representation of JANAAC-accredited entities in the Caribbean. Nine labs, 22 testing labs, one calibration lab, and three inspection bodies are accredited by JANAAC.

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton was particularly pleased that CRH’s lab is now accredited. In his view it gives much-needed credence to his long-held view that the hospital is doing good work, despite being under renovation for the last seven years.

“It is substantive and significant to be here, because here we are in a room celebrating not just a parish achievement, not just a national achievement, but a global achievement around an institution that is pursuing quality standards of performance to the extent that they are globally recognised,” he noted.

The medical laboratory, which began operations in 1974 as part of CRH, now does 1.75 million lab tests per year. Tufton said these are being conducted under a robust quality management system (QMS), backed by competence in technical skills, personnel, facility and equipment management, patient identification and data protection, accurate testing, calibration, sampling, pre- and post-examination processes, and continuous improvement by understanding the standard requirements, ensuring personnel competence and training, in addition to maintaining accurate documentation.

“That’s what you’re doing up at Cornwall Regional. And that’s why Minister Hill and his team can come here and say, ‘You’re not only local, you’re not only regional, you are international!’ And that is worthy of your contribution. I hope that it sends the signal to those of us who may have good reason to doubt. Some may be just detractors of it. Others may be genuinely doubtful because of the uncertainties,” said an elated Tufton.