A Certified Asset: Congratulations to EBNHC’s Wandaly Pellicier!

East Boston, MA, June 1, 2015—After nearly 18 months of intense study, Wandaly Pellicier, Medical Assistant in the Women’s Health Department and Central Processing Technician for the Employee Health/Infection Control Department at EBNHC, has completed the IAHCSMM (International Association of Healthcare Central Service Material Management) course and exam. She is now a Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST). The CRCST Certification is accredited by both the American National Standards Institute and the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

In 2013, Wandaly took on the new role of EBNHC’s Central Processing Technician. In this position, she became responsible for performing and overseeing instrument care and cleaning. Prior to Wandaly’s appointment, medical assistants across the health center would devote up to three hours a day to equipment sterilization—time that is now dedicated to patient care.

At the suggestion of EBNHC administration, and with their full support as well as encouragement from her supervisor, Wandaly decided to augment her Central Service knowledge and pursue certification as a Certified Registered Central Service Technician.

A Central Service Technician is a vital member of the medical team, supporting all patient care areas and interacting with staff across the health center (in fact, the CRCST course and exam even assess customer relations skills!). As the IAHCSMM defines this role, oversight of all supplies and equipment needed for patient care includes “decontaminating, inspecting, assembling, disassembling, packaging, and sterilizing reusable surgical instruments or devices in a health care facility that are essential for patient safety.”

Wandaly’s supportive supervisor in the Women’s Health Department is Meg Perkins Ames, RN, BSN. Meg is thrilled about Wandaly’s accomplishment: “Though pending, there is legislation in Massachusetts to make certification a requirement for all Central Service Technicians (those who sterilize instruments in medical settings). The certification exam Wandaly successfully completed is significantly more difficult, with a pass rate of less than 50%, than the previous version. This is an extraordinary personal achievement. Wandaly is an exceptional employee, and now, as a Certified Registered Central Service Technician, she has become an even more treasured asset for the health center.”

Each year, Wandaly will be required to recertify as a CRCST by completing continuing education specifications. While Wandaly’s certification makes her eligible for Central Processing roles in full-service hospitals (she understands the use and care of every machine, scope, and instrument that may be used, as well as the importance of safety in any Central Processing environment), she loves her work at EBNHC. Her future plans do include becoming a Certified Instrument Specialist—after a period of well-deserved rest, however!

As her Central Processing duties have increased, Wandaly has reduced her clinical role in the Women’s Health Department. She fills in as needed, but has incorporated ordering, stocking, and maintaining all sorts of medical supplies into her sterilization/Central Processing work. “I love working at the health center,” says Wandaly. “It’s a wonderful, diverse community. I meet people of so many different nationalities, and learn lots of new things every day. I feel very supported here.”

With her dedication to patient care at the health center and her considerable accomplishments, Wandaly is the perfect choice as the “face of EBNHC” on the health center’s newly redesigned website home page at www.ebnhc.org.

Congratulations, Wandaly!

For more information about IAHCSMM certification, visit www.iahcsmm.org.

The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center has been a vital part of the community for 45 years, providing easily accessible, high-quality health care to all who live and work in East Boston and the surrounding communities of Chelsea, Revere, Everett, and Winthrop. EBNHC handles 300,000 patient visits per year—more than any other ambulatory care center in New England.