CLEARWATER, Fla. (January 7, 2004)--Morton Plant Mease Health Care and University of South Florida Family Practice Residency Program recently received a five-year accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

"Clinical education in a medical specialty that follows graduation from medical school is considered residency education and prepares physicians for the independent practice of medicine," said Bruce Flareau, M.D., director of Morton Plant Mease's Family Practice Residency Program. "Accreditation by the ACGME is to a residency what JCAHO accreditation is to a hospital."

With nearly 7,800 residency programs to review, the ACGME is one of the largest, private accrediting agencies in the country. Based upon established standards and guidelines, accreditation is accomplished through a peer review process. The ACGME relies on experts in various medical specialties to develop and refine its accreditation standards and to review accredited programs for compliance with the standards.

"Residency education has multiple goals but namely quality education, safe and effective patient care and resident safety," said Dr. Flareau. "The ACGME's role is to ensure the quality of residency education for the next generation of physicians, and to contribute to safe and effective patient care."

Compliance with the ACGME's standards is measured through periodic review of all programs and on average, each accredited residency program is site visited every 3.7 years. The interval between site visits ranges from one to five years, with a longer period indicating that the ACGME is more confident about the ability of a given program to provide quality education.

"Not only did we receive the maximum amount of time that the ACGME offers, but we also accomplished this without a single citation," added Dr. Flareau.

Established in 1994, Morton Plant Mease Health Care is a joint venture between Morton Plant Hospital Association Inc. and Mease Hospitals that provides administrative and certain patient care services to Morton Plant and Mease, including medical staff development and training.

Contact: Phoebe Ochman/Beth Hardy

Morton Plant News Bureau

727 / 461-8117 Phone

727 / 468-7586 Pager