Front, from left, Val Petke, Margaret Dossert, Karen LaFave, Michelle Manson and Amber Curtis. Back, Jaime Odendahl, Joey Black, Richard Trombley, Lacey Staires and Brooke Colby.

POTSDAM -- The Endoscopy Unit at St. Lawrence Health System’s Canton-Potsdam Hospital has been named a 2015 Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program (EURP) Honoree by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) for “meeting or exceeding benchmarks specific to endoscopic screening for colon cancer,” CPH said.

As what CPH calls the only national program of its kind, the ASGE EURP honors units that have “demonstrated a commitment to delivering quality and safety as reflected in their unit policies, credentialing, staff training and competency assessment, and quality improvement activities. EURP honorees benefit from being among a like-minded community of units from across the country,” CPH said in a prepared statement.

“Our team of professionals works hard to provide the very highest quality endoscopy services to our patients, and this recognition attests to their dedication,” said David B. Acker, St. Lawrence Health System CEO.

Endoscopy may be performed as a screening or diagnostic procedure for a number of disorders of the upper and lower digestive tract, according to Dr. Xiaosong Song, St. Lawrence Health System gastroenterologist who practices at CPH.

Upper endoscopy involves the insertion through the throat of a sterile flexible tube fitted with a tiny lighted camera, also called an endoscope. To visualize the lower digestive tract, including the colon, a sterile endoscope is inserted through the rectum. The procedures are performed by a gastroenterology specialist or a general surgeon under appropriate anesthesia. Biopsies may be performed and pre-cancerous polyps may be removed during the procedure, if warranted.

“Endoscopy is the key to early detection of colorectal cancer and the way in which it is performed influences the outcomes,” said Song.