Changes in safety standards of handling hazardous drugs will force Winneshiek Medical Center to make some expensive renovations

Winneshiek Medical Center will be spending over $750,000 to meet the new standards for the safe handling of hazardous drugs.

United States Pharmacopeia is the only independent, not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization of its kind in the world. USP sets quality, purity, strength, and identity standards for medicines, food ingredients, and dietary supplements.  Recently it changed its standards (USP 800) for the handling of hazardous drugs.

Those changes--which go into effect on December 1st--are causing Winneshiek Medical Center to spend $757,400 in renovations to its pharmacy.  The new standards promote patient safety, worker safety and environmental protection.

USP says the new standards are necessary to protect pharmacy workers, but also patients and the general public.  WMC says the changes to its pharmacy will involve the receipt, storage, compounding, dispensing, administration and disposal of both sterile and non-sterile products and preparations.