COLA, a national laboratory accreditor dedicated to promoting health and safety through accreditation and education, announces Mary J. James, MD, has been elected to its Board of Directors. Dr. James joins COLA’s board of prominent professionals appointed by the American Medical Association (AMA), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American College of Physicians (ACP).
Serving as a board-elected director, Dr. James is a pathologist with Physicians Laboratory LTD in South Dakota where she provides anatomic pathology services and laboratory consultation to hospitals in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. She is also a blood bank medical director and processing facility director for the cellular therapy laboratory at Avera McKennan Hospital and a co-medical director of the Community Blood Bank.
Dr. James is a member of the College of American Pathologists, for which she is the South Dakota House of Delegates Chair. She is also a member of the American Society for Clinical Pathology, Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB) and American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy.
“I am honored to have Dr. James join COLA’s Board of Directors,” said William E. Kobler, MD, Board Chair. “She has extensive experience in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine. I look forward to her contributions, which will ensure that COLA continues to make a positive impact on clinical laboratories and quality patient care.”