Booneville, Miss., Aug. 9, 2005 – Baptist Memorial Hospital-Booneville recently earned Quality Respiratory Care Recognition under a national program aimed at helping patients and families make informed decisions about the quality of the respiratory care services available in hospitals.

About 500, or 10 percent, of American hospitals have applied for and received this award, which the American Association for Respiratory Care started in 2003 to help consumers identify facilities that use qualified respiratory therapists to provide respiratory care. Hospitals earning the QRCR designation help ensure patient safety by agreeing to adhere to a strict set of criteria governing their respiratory care services.

“We are so honored to have earned this recognition,” said Al Sypniewski, administrator and CEO of Baptist Booneville. “This designation proves that the people who work in our respiratory care department are highly skilled professionals who provide exceptional patient care every day.”

Respiratory therapists are specially trained health care professionals who work under physicians’ orders to provide a wide range of breathing treatments and other services to patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer and other lung or lung-related conditions. They also care for premature infants and are key members of lifesaving response teams charged with handling medical emergencies.

Baptist Booneville is a 144-bed hospital that offers diagnostic services, critical care and other acute care services. It operates one of the few geriatric psychiatric units in the area, and it recently reopened its Sleep Disorder Lab. It also features a specialty clinic that includes cardiology, otolaryngology, neurology, ophthalmology and orthopedic services. For a list of QRCR hospitals, please visit YourLungHealth.org. For more information on Baptist Booneville, please call (662) 720-5000 or visit http://booneville.baptistonline.org.

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