Bringing nationally recognized care to the local community
Laredo Specialty Hospital is the first hospital in Laredo, Texas, to earn The Joint Commission’s disease-specific certification in Respiratory Failure. The hospital earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Respiratory Failure after a rigorous on-site review this past month.
“This certification means we’re providing the highest level of respiratory failure care available in the nation right here to patients in our own community,” says Hanna Huang, Chief Operating Officer of Laredo Specialty Hospital, “It’s significant because it reflects our commitment to providing safe and effective care to our patients.”
Respiratory failure occurs when there isn’t enough oxygen passing from the lungs into the body’s bloodstream. Oxygen-rich blood is needed to help the body’s organs – such as the heart and brain – function properly.
Dr. Benson Yu Huang, Medical Director of Laredo Specialty Hospital, continues to explain. “Respiratory failure also can occur if a patient’s lungs can’t remove carbon dioxide from the blood,” he says. “Carbon dioxide is a waste gas that also can harm a body’s organs.”
Different types of diseases can cause respiratory failure, including lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, or cystic fibrosis. Respiratory failure also can be caused by conditions that affect the nerves and muscles that control breathing such as stroke, spinal cord injuries, and muscular dystrophy.
Certification through The Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Program is voluntary and addresses three main areas:
- Compliance with consensus-based national standards
- Effective use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to manage and optimize care; and
- An organized approach to performance measurement and improvement activities.
“Through our services, we want to provide hope and quality of life to our community members who are experiencing these debilitating events,” Huang says. “This certification provides us with the framework to continue a culture of excellence for patients in our community.”
The hospital provides hundreds of patients in Laredo and surrounding areas every year with long-term acute and critical care services. These patients, who are recovering from serious illnesses or injuries, often need care for medically complex conditions such as trauma, infectious diseases, wound healing, cardiovascular disease, stroke, amputations, and respiratory failure.
The hospital, which is located at 2005 Bustamante St., Laredo, features all private patient rooms, and a 6-bed intensive care unit. The hospital also features a 5,000-square-foot therapy gym with private treatment rooms.