Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland’s Blood & Marrow Transplantation Program Awarded FACT Accreditation for Third Time

April 9, 2012

Oakland, Calif. – Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland’s Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) Program recently earned a renewal accreditation by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). FACT accreditation distinguishes high quality blood and marrow transplant programs by requiring that the programs meet the highest standards based on rigorous on-site performance reviews. By demonstrating compliance with the FACT-JACIE International Standards for Cellular Therapy Product Collection, Processing and Administration and governmental regulations, the Children’s BMT program was awarded this prestigious accreditation for an additional 3 years.

"FACT accreditation is the standard of excellence for blood and bone marrow transplant programs and is a necessary qualification to be competitive in the field of cellular therapy,” said Mark Walters, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Oakland’s BMT Program. “We believe FACT accreditation reassures our patients that our program provides the highest quality care in cellular therapies such as blood and marrow transplantation.”

In addition to FACT accreditation, the California Department of Health and Human Services has designated Children’s Hospital Oakland’s BMT Program a Center of Excellence for pediatric stem cell transplantation. Since its inception in 2000, the BMT program, a world-class program with expertise in all areas of hematopoietic cell transplantation, has performed 194 transplant procedures (as of March 1, 2012).

"We are pleased that Children’s Hospital Oakland has met the requirements of the Foundation and has been granted accreditation for the BMT program,” said Dr. Phyllis Warkentin, FACT Medical Director.

FACT conducted an on-site evaluation of Children’s Hospital Oakland in November 2011. The accreditation process involved the submission of documentation to demonstrate compliance with the standards and a subsequent on-site inspection conducted by inspectors qualified by training and experience in cellular therapy.

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About Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland
Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland is Northern California’s only independent not-for-profit regional medical center for children. Children’s Hospital Oakland is a national leader in many pediatric specialties and sub-specialties including hematology/oncology, neonatology, cardiology, orthopedics, sports medicine, and neurosurgery. The hospital is one of only two solely designated California Level 1 pediatric trauma centers with the largest pediatric inpatient critical care unit in the region. Children’s Hospital has 190 licensed beds, 201 hospital-based physicians in 30 specialties, more than 2,700 employees, and an annual operating budget of more than $350 million. Children’s is also a premier teaching hospital with an outstanding pediatric residency program and unique pediatric subspecialty fellowship programs.

Children’s research program, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), is internationally renowned for taking state-of-the-art basic and clinical research and translating it into interventions for treating and preventing human diseases. CHORI has 300 members of its investigative staff, a budget of about $50 million, and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 research centers in National Institutes of Health funding to children’s hospitals. For more information, go to www.childrenshospitaloakland.org and www.chori.org.

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