The Fulton County Public Health Laboratory, operated by the Fulton County Board of Health (FCBOH), received the 2023 COLA Laboratory Excellence Award. The honor from a nationally recognized lab accreditation firm acknowledges the facility’s commitment to quality patient testing and overall laboratory practices. The honor makes Fulton County the only public health lab in Georgia receiving this recognition.

“All of the lab staff have worked really hard in maintaining our proficiency testing, our quality assurance, and making sure all of the processes we have in place get followed,” says Dr. David Holland, Chief Clinical Officer for the Fulton County Board of Health. “It signifies that we are providing the highest quality of service to our clients and to the citizens of Fulton County.”

The Laboratory Excellence Award winners represent a select group within the nearly 8 thousand labs accredited by COLA. These honorees demonstrate a commitment to quality, having been scrutinized through proficiency testing and evaluation by lab users. This award tells patients the Fulton County Public Health Laboratory is both accurate and reliable. Beginning in April of 2023, the lab began partnering to provide the overdose reversing medication Naloxone to housing insecure Fulton County residents in the downtown area. This work was done in addition to screening for tuberculosis, Hepatitis, HIV and other infections.

COLA provides clinical laboratories all over the United States with programs of education, consultation, and accreditation. The organization is an independent, non-profit accreditor whose education-based program and standards enable clinical laboratories and staff to meet regulatory requirements.

The Fulton County Board of Health provides a variety of services that help protect residents from health threats, increase access to health services to improve health outcomes, and provide information that assists Fulton County citizens in living healthier lives. For more information on the Fulton County Board of Health, visit http://www.fultoncountyboh.com.