BANGOR — St. Joseph Healthcare’s Endoscopy Department has recently been honored with a three-year recognition for quality and safety from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, a leading medical society in the gastrointestinal field.
St. Joseph Healthcare’s Endoscopy Department is one of just 600 recipients across the United States who have received this distinction since 2009. Awardees demonstrate a commitment to patient safety and quality in endoscopy by meeting the ASGE program’s rigorous criteria, including quality assurance, infection prevention practices and ensuring endoscopy staff are highly trained.
“This recognition underscores our commitment to patient safety and quality in the care we provide to our patients each day,” shares Joseph Gallagher, MD, gastroenterologist at St. Joseph Healthcare. “We underwent a rigorous peer-reviewed application process, validating the ongoing expertise of our staff and adopting policies for continuous performance improvement in order to earn this recognition.”
Endoscopy is a nonsurgical procedure used to inspect a patient’s digestive tract. St. Joseph Healthcare expects to perform nearly 7,000 endoscopy procedures this year alone. Medical providers use an endoscope, or a tube equipped with a light and camera, to view images of the digestive tract. Areas examined include the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder and colon. Endoscopic procedures can help identify and diagnose conditions for patients experiencing stomach pain, Crohn’s Disease, difficulty swallowing, gastrointestinal bleeding, irritable bowel syndrome, reflux, polyps, ulcers and cancer.
“We are immensely proud of our Endoscopy and Gastroenterology team. This recognition is a testament to the exceptional dedication and expertise of our entire team at St. Joseph Healthcare,” says Mary Prybylo, RN, MSN, FACHE, president of St. Joseph Healthcare.
ASGE is at the forefront of establishing and upholding standards of excellence in endoscopy. Since its founding in 1941, ASGE has been dedicated to advancing patient care and digestive health by promoting excellence and innovation in gastrointestinal endoscopy. With more than 14,000 members worldwide, ASGE promotes the highest standards for endoscopic training and practice, fosters endoscopic research, recognizes distinguished contributions to endoscopy and is the foremost resource for endoscopic education.
St. Joseph Healthcare, a member of Covenant Health, is a 112-bed acute care community hospital in Bangor. The organization employs 1,100 team members, including primary care providers and specialists focused on delivering personalized medicine. St. Joseph Healthcare was founded in 1947 by the Felician Sisters with a mission to support the overall wellness and healing of a patient’s mind, body, and spirit.