Compliance: Specimen Collection and Transit Performance

Each hospital or health care provider attending a birth outside of a hospital is required to collect and transport specimens to the Newborn Screening Laboratory within specified timeframes (70.83.020 RCW).

These requirements ensure timely testing and diagnostic treatment for the protection of newborns. The timeframes for specimen collection and transport are:

Specimen Collection: Initial specimens shall be collected no later than 48 hours following birth.

For all Washington births in 2017, including hospitals, birth centers, and home births, 98.3% of initial specimens were collected in compliance with this timeframe. This is an improvement of 0.1 percentage points from the previous year.

Specimen Collection Compliance by Birth Facility
Transit Performance: Initial specimens must be received by State Laboratory within 72 hours of collection (excluding days that the laboratory is closed – Sundays and Thanksgiving.)

For all Washington births in 2017, including hospitals, birth centers, and home births, 89.7% of initial specimens were received in compliance with this timeframe. This is an improvement of 0.5 percentage points from the previous year.

Specimen Transit Compliance by Birth Facility

Hospital performance data can also be found alphabetically, by birth volume, and by geographical region:

Specimen Collection Compliance By Birth Facility
Births January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017
Facility of Birth	City	Eligible Infants	1) Collection Compliance
Newport Hospital	Newport	92	100%
North Valley Hospital	Tonasket	83	100%
Whitman Hospital and Medical Center	Colfax	32	100%
St Clare Hospital	Lakewood	4	100%
Summit Pacific Medical Center	Elma	4	100%
EvergreenHealth - Monroe	Monroe	2	100%
Klickitat Valley Hospital	Goldendale	2	100%
Lincoln Hospital	Davenport	1	100%
Willapa Harbor Hospital	South Bend	1	100%
Yakima Regional Medical Center	Yakima	1	100%
Madigan Army Medical Center	Joint Base Lewis-McChord	1,939	99.9%
Swedish - Issaquah	Issaquah	1,623	99.8%
Sunnyside Community Hospital	Sunnyside	522	99.8%
Prosser Memorial Hospital	Prosser	381	99.7%
Kadlec Regional Medical Center	Richland	2,798	99.6%
Virginia Mason Memorial	Yakima	2,563	99.6%
Good Samaritan Hospital - MultiCare	Puyallup	2,280	99.6%
Providence St Peter Hospital	Olympia	2,090	99.6%
Holy Family Hospital - Providence	Spokane	1,225	99.6%
EvergreenHealth Kirkland	Kirkland	4,596	99.5%
Overlake Medical Center	Bellevue	3,687	99.5%
Swedish - Edmonds	Edmonds	1,370	99.5%
Swedish - Ballard	Seattle	1,122	99.5%
Northwest Hospital - UW Medicine	Seattle	1,080	99.5%
Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center	Vancouver	3,422	99.4%
Auburn Medical Center - MultiCare	Auburn	1,214	99.4%
St Joseph Hospital PeaceHealth - Bellingham	Bellingham	2,004	99.3%
Highline Medical Center	Burien	982	99.3%
Providence Centralia Hospital	Centralia	683	99.3%
Pullman Regional Hospital	Pullman	422	99.3%
Harrison Medical Center	Bremerton	1,953	99.2%
Trios Health Hospital	Kennewick	1,439	99.2%
Deaconess Hospital - MultiCare	Spokane	1,427	99.2%
Skagit Valley Hospital	Mount Vernon	989	99.2%
St Joseph Medical Center - Tacoma	Tacoma	4,235	99.1%
Sacred Heart Medical Center - Providence	Spokane	3,104	99.1%
Naval Hospital - Bremerton	Bremerton	527	99.1%
Swedish - First Hill	Seattle	7,532	99.0%
Providence Everett Regional Medical Center	Everett	4,706	99.0%
Valley Medical Center - UW Medicine	Renton	3,736	99.0%
Valley Hospital	Spokane	708	99.0%
Toppenish Community Hospital	Toppenish	404	99.0%
St John Medical Center - PeaceHealth	Longview	812	98.8%
St Francis Hospital	Federal Way	1,275	98.5%
Tacoma General Hospital - MultiCare	Tacoma	2,916	98.4%
Central Washington Hospital/Confluence Health	Wenatchee	1,339	98.4%
Naval Hospital - Oak Harbor	Oak Harbor	183	98.4%
Island Hospital	Anacortes	481	98.3%
Capital Medical Center	Olympia	662	98.2%
Grays Harbor Community Hospital	Aberdeen	442	98.2%
St Elizabeth Hospital	Enumclaw	335	98.2%
Othello Community Hospital	Othello	480	98.1%
PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center	Vancouver	2,062	97.9%
Kittitas Valley Healthcare	Ellensburg	324	97.8%
Forks Community Hospital	Forks	46	97.8%
Mason General Hospital	Shelton	256	97.3%
University of Washington Medical Center	Seattle	1,927	97.2%
WhidbeyHealth Medical Center	Coupeville	214	97.2%
Coulee Medical Center	Grand Coulee	69	97.1%
Three Rivers Hospital	Brewster	93	96.8%
Cascade Valley Hospital	Arlington	155	96.1%
Mount Carmel Hospital - Providence	Colville	217	95.9%
Olympic Medical Center	Port Angeles	501	95.8%
St Mary Medical Center - Providence	Walla Walla	687	95.5%
Mid-Valley Hospital	Omak	229	95.2%
Lake Chelan Community Hospital	Chelan	95	93.7%
Samaritan Healthcare	Moses Lake	1,026	93.6%
Jefferson Healthcare	Port Townsend	113	92.0%
All Hospital Births	Statewide	83,924	98.9%
All Out-of-Hospital Births	Statewide	3,151	80.6%
All Washington State Births	Statewide	87,234	98.3%

Specimen Transit Compliance by Birth Facility
Births January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017
Facility of Birth	City	Eligible Infants	2) Transit Compliance
Newport Hospital	Newport	92	100%
North Valley Hospital	Tonasket	83	100%
Whitman Hospital and Medical Center	Colfax	32	100%
St Clare Hospital	Lakewood	4	100%
Summit Pacific Medical Center	Elma	4	100%
EvergreenHealth - Monroe	Monroe	2	100%
Klickitat Valley Hospital	Goldendale	2	100%
Lincoln Hospital	Davenport	1	100%
Willapa Harbor Hospital	South Bend	1	100%
Yakima Regional Medical Center	Yakima	1	100%
Madigan Army Medical Center	Joint Base Lewis-McChord	1,939	99.9%
Swedish - Issaquah	Issaquah	1,623	99.8%
Sunnyside Community Hospital	Sunnyside	522	99.8%
Prosser Memorial Hospital	Prosser	381	99.7%
Kadlec Regional Medical Center	Richland	2,798	99.6%
Virginia Mason Memorial	Yakima	2,563	99.6%
Good Samaritan Hospital - MultiCare	Puyallup	2,280	99.6%
Providence St Peter Hospital	Olympia	2,090	99.6%
Holy Family Hospital - Providence	Spokane	1,225	99.6%
EvergreenHealth Kirkland	Kirkland	4,596	99.5%
Overlake Medical Center	Bellevue	3,687	99.5%
Swedish - Edmonds	Edmonds	1,370	99.5%
Swedish - Ballard	Seattle	1,122	99.5%
Northwest Hospital - UW Medicine	Seattle	1,080	99.5%
Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center	Vancouver	3,422	99.4%
Auburn Medical Center - MultiCare	Auburn	1,214	99.4%
St Joseph Hospital PeaceHealth - Bellingham	Bellingham	2,004	99.3%
Highline Medical Center	Burien	982	99.3%
Providence Centralia Hospital	Centralia	683	99.3%
Pullman Regional Hospital	Pullman	422	99.3%
Harrison Medical Center	Bremerton	1,953	99.2%
Trios Health Hospital	Kennewick	1,439	99.2%
Deaconess Hospital - MultiCare	Spokane	1,427	99.2%
Skagit Valley Hospital	Mount Vernon	989	99.2%
St Joseph Medical Center - Tacoma	Tacoma	4,235	99.1%
Sacred Heart Medical Center - Providence	Spokane	3,104	99.1%
Naval Hospital - Bremerton	Bremerton	527	99.1%
Swedish - First Hill	Seattle	7,532	99.0%
Providence Everett Regional Medical Center	Everett	4,706	99.0%
Valley Medical Center - UW Medicine	Renton	3,736	99.0%
Valley Hospital	Spokane	708	99.0%
Toppenish Community Hospital	Toppenish	404	99.0%
St John Medical Center - PeaceHealth	Longview	812	98.8%
St Francis Hospital	Federal Way	1,275	98.5%
Tacoma General Hospital - MultiCare	Tacoma	2,916	98.4%
Central Washington Hospital/Confluence Health	Wenatchee	1,339	98.4%
Naval Hospital - Oak Harbor	Oak Harbor	183	98.4%
Island Hospital	Anacortes	481	98.3%
Capital Medical Center	Olympia	662	98.2%
Grays Harbor Community Hospital	Aberdeen	442	98.2%
St Elizabeth Hospital	Enumclaw	335	98.2%
Othello Community Hospital	Othello	480	98.1%
PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center	Vancouver	2,062	97.9%
Kittitas Valley Healthcare	Ellensburg	324	97.8%
Forks Community Hospital	Forks	46	97.8%
Mason General Hospital	Shelton	256	97.3%
University of Washington Medical Center	Seattle	1,927	97.2%
WhidbeyHealth Medical Center	Coupeville	214	97.2%
Coulee Medical Center	Grand Coulee	69	97.1%
Three Rivers Hospital	Brewster	93	96.8%
Cascade Valley Hospital	Arlington	155	96.1%
Mount Carmel Hospital - Providence	Colville	217	95.9%
Olympic Medical Center	Port Angeles	501	95.8%
St Mary Medical Center - Providence	Walla Walla	687	95.5%
Mid-Valley Hospital	Omak	229	95.2%
Lake Chelan Community Hospital	Chelan	95	93.7%
Samaritan Healthcare	Moses Lake	1,026	93.6%
Jefferson Healthcare	Port Townsend	113	92.0%
All Hospital Births	Statewide	83,924	98.9%
All Out-of-Hospital Births	Statewide	3,151	80.6%
All Washington State Births	Statewide	87,234	98.3%

If you have questions regarding the compliance and quality standards for Newborn Screening, please contact us at 206-418-5410 or email at NBS.Prog@doh.wa.gov.