Gold Cross Receives Medical Transport Reaccreditation

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Gold Cross Ambulance has been reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS). Gold Cross first received accreditation in 2008 and is currently the only ground ambulance service in Minnesota and Wisconsin with this designation.

Accreditation requires an extensive review of a medical transport program's policies and procedures on outreach and education, dispatch, clinical care, quality assurance, and safety. This voluntary examination is followed by a comprehensive in-person visit by certified site surveyors. The entire accreditation process for Gold Cross spanned seven months and focused on assuring that the high standards of care provided by Gold Cross met CAMTS's methods and practices.

CAMTS accreditation standards are considered a benchmark of excellence for local, state, federal, and private agencies and the public. The focused review helps assure care provided to patients is of the highest quality and that standards are specific and measurable. Both CAMTS and Gold Cross have a stated commitment to two top priorities: patient care and safety.

CAMTS Executive Director Eileen Frazer congratulated Gold Cross on achieving reaccreditation. "The Board of Directors has asked me to extend their heartfelt congratulations on achieving full reaccreditation. This represents a significant achievement of Gold Cross' medical transport service," Frazer says.

The reaccreditation was also applauded by Scott Zietlow, M.D., chairman of the Mayo Clinic Medical Transport Committee, the clinical governance body that oversees Gold Cross.

"CAMTS scrutinizes the practices and procedures of medical transport services carefully to assure they maintain a culture and environment that provides the best care to patients," Dr. Zietlow says. "Gold Cross is an example of a premier ambulance service, voluntarily submitting to a rigorous review of all aspects of our business by an independent accrediting agency. Just as other departments at Mayo are reviewed by industry-accrediting bodies, we wanted to assure our patients, referring hospitals and emergency medical services/first responders that Gold Cross will always maintain a commitment of providing superior patient care to our patients."

About Gold Cross

Gold Cross is a nonprofit subsidiary of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research that operates without tax subsidies. Gold Cross is a service of Mayo Clinic Medical Transport, which also provides emergency helicopter transport through Mayo One and fixed-wing nationwide air ambulance called Mayo MedAir. The services are dispatched and monitored through Mayo Clinic's Emergency Communications Center. Mayo Clinic Medical Transport is locally based in 11 communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin and provides a standardized and consistent level of quality patient care. Mayo Clinic Medical Transport responded to more than 60,000 requests for service during 2010.

About the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS)

CAMTS is an independent organization dedicated to improving the quality and safety of medical transport services. CAMTS is governed by a board comprised of members from 20 nonprofit professional associations working within emergency medical transport.

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About Mayo Clinic

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