The NAACLS News

By Bill Hunt, MBA, MLS(ASCP)^CM

NAACLS Needs You!!

In the Mission of NAACLS it states that we are, “dedicated to peer review as the foundation of accreditation and approval.” We are an agency that, “strives to prepare volunteer reviewers and to assist them in providing exemplary program analysis, based upon principles of honesty, fairness, objectivity and integrity.”

As many of you are fully aware there continues to be a large bolus of retirements hitting laboratory education and NAACLS. That “brain drain” impacts not only the available pools of active practitioners and program faculty but NAACLS pool of volunteers also. Retiring people can still stay connected and involved by serving as NAACLS volunteers. For the “new” program directors a great way to immerse in the standards and to learn about other programs is to volunteer to be elected as a member of the NAACLS BOD, Doctoral Review Committee, Review Committee for Accredited Programs or Programs Approval Review Committee. Volunteer to be a Self-Study Report Reviewers or a Site Visitor. For information reach out to the NAACLS office or follow the link https://www.naacls.org/getattachment/2508a754-dc2c-4bdc-afba-e349444ff0f6/Volunteer-Manual-Edited-2016.aspx for the NAACLS Volunteer Manual for Self-Study Report Reviewers and Site visitors.

Multiple studies have shown that volunteering has real, measurable health benefits for the people who volunteer. A 2013 study by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) and the Optum Institute shows:

• Health: volunteers say that they feel better – physically, mentally and emotionally;
• Stress: volunteering helps people manage and lower their stress levels;
• Purpose: volunteers feel a deeper connection to communities and to others;
• Engagement: volunteers are more informed health care consumers, and more engaged and involved in managing their health.

We all volunteer for a myriad of reasons. Personally I volunteer at NAACLS to ensure that our profession continues to produce the next generation of competent laboratory professionals. So please consider joining the NAACLS volunteer team.

For those of you attending our upcoming NAACLS Workshop on February 22nd, the accompanying materials were emailed out today.

If you have not received the email by the end of the business day, please check your spam folder. If you still did not receive the email, please call the office.

We look forward to seeing you in Houston!! Stay tuned to the NAACLS News for upcoming workshop announcements.

We invite you to view the NAACLS 2017 Annual Report on our website.

The Annual Report includes a Message from the President, 2017 Program Data, 2017 Board of Directors’ Actions, 2017 Volunteers, Statements of Financial Position for FY ending June 30, 2017, and Rosters for the NAACLS Board, Review Committees and Staff.

The summer 2018 cycle includes programs that will have site visits during spring 2018 and will be placed on the agenda for the summer 2018 meeting of the review committees. Recommendations from the committees will be acted upon by the Board in fall 2018.

MLS Programs:

Andrews University Program for Medical Laboratory Science, Berrien Springs, MI

Arkansas State University, State University, AR

Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA

Ascension – Saint Elizabeth Hospital, Appleton, WI

Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL

Conemaugh Memorial Hospital, Johnstown, PA

Farmingdale State College, Farmingdale, NY

Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL (Initial)