Altru Health System Donor and Transfusion/Tissue Services Received AABB Accreditation

Grand Forks, N.D. – Altru Health System has been granted AABB accreditation at Dak Minn Blood Bank, Altru Hospital lab, and Altru Professional Center lab.

Accreditation follows an intensive on-site assessment by specially trained AABB assessors and establishes that the level of technical and administrative performance within the facility meets or exceeds the standards set by AABB. By successfully meeting those requirements, Altru Health System joins similar facilities located throughout the United States and around the world that also have earned AABB Accreditation.

“The AABB’s Accreditation procedures are voluntary,” Terri Hintz, supervisor of donor and transfusion/tissue service explains. “Altru has sought AABB Accreditation because this program assists facilities around the world in achieving excellence by promoting a level of professional and technical expertise that contributes to quality performance and patient safety.”

AABB’s Accreditation Program contributes to the quality and safety of collecting, processing, testing, distributing, and administering blood and cellular therapy products. The Accreditation Program assesses the quality and operational systems in place within a facility. The basis for assessment is compliance with AABB standards, Code of Federal Regulations, and other federal guidance documents.

AABB grants accreditation for:

• Donor Centers – Collection, Processing, Testing, and Distribution
• Transfusion Services – Testing, Blood Administrations
• Cellular Therapy
• Immunohematology Reference Laboratories
• Perioperative Services
• Relationship/Parentage Testing
• Molecular Testing for Red Cell, Platelet, and Neutrophil Antigens

About AABB

Established in 1947, AABB (Formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks) is an international, not-for-profit association dedicated to the advancement of science and the practice of transfusion medicine and related biological therapies. The association is committed to improving health by developing and delivering standards, accreditation, and educational programs and services to optimize patient and donor care and safety.

About Altru Health System

Altru Health System is a regional-owned, integrated system with a general acute care hospital, a specialty hospital, more than a dozen clinics in Grand Forks and the region, and a large home care network. It employs nearly 200 physicians and 4,000 staff and has an annual net operating revenue of more than $549 million. As the first member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Altru’s providers have access to clinically integrated tools extending Mayo Clinic’s knowledge and expertise to patients.