Volume 82 - Fall 2002	Download

A Tribute to Norton German, M.D.

During the 2002 summer review committee meetings, Dr. Norton German was honored for his many years of service to NAACLS. These 29 years cover the entire history of this organization. Among his many friends in NAACLS, Norton is often referred to as the "Guru of NAACLS Accreditation." A brief synopsis of his many contributions to NAACLS follows.

In January 1974 Dr. German attended the first Certified Laboratory Assistant (CLA) committee meeting and for two years chaired this committee, during which time he initiated the committee's name change from CLA to CLT/MLT-C. In 1976, he served on the NAACLS Task Force that drafted the 1977 Essentials.

In 1981, about to retire from the committee, Norton was elected to the Board of Directors as a Clinical Laboratory Director. After two four-year terms on the Board, he was asked to and did serve a ninth year.

After these years on the Board, Norton tried to retire again, and again he failed. He was elected to the HT Committee and immediately elected its Chair. He served for two more years until 1992 when the newly created Clinical Laboratory Sciences Programs Review Committee (CLSPRC) was formed, and he became a member of that committee. In the same year, he was appointed Histology Lead for CLSPRC. He was re-appointed to the position for each of the past ten years. In 1998 he was to retire from CLSPRC but, at the request of the Board, stayed on for four additional years until the end of his term this year.

During his tenure with NAACLS he was instrumental in writing Essentials and related documents for the CLS/MT, CLT/MLT and HT/HTL programs. He served as Medical Director for CLS/MT, CLT/MLT, HT and Phlebotomy programs. He was a faculty member for NAACLS workshops at ASMT and NSH meetings. Over the years he completed many Self-Study Report Paper Reviews, both in English and Spanish, and conducted over 50 site visits. He was instrumental in NAACLS' early studies of international accreditation.

Norton has shared memories of his experiences with NAACLS. His first site visit in January 1974 was to Alexandria, Minnesota, reputed to be the birthplace of America, with its Norse Rune Stone. The temperature was 30 below zero, and the only way to reach his destination was by rental car because no planes, trains, or buses were running. As he checked into the Holiday Inn, he noticed a four-inch layer of ice along the inside of the outer wall seams. He reported that another site visit to rural Virginia provided a very small classroom that had been converted from a chicken coop, just after sweeping it out.

In addition to his myriad accreditation activities, Norton's medical career is notable. Following his residency, Norton served as Chief of Pathology at an army hospital in New Jersey where he also opened and operated the Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Laboratory that processed and shipped blood to Vietnam during that war. In 1967, his army lab became the first military hospital lab to be voluntarily accredited by the College of American Pathologists. Faced with a major shortage of technicians, he began his own lab technician school that supplied all the staff he needed. In 1969 he sailed with his family to Germany to assume, for four years, the dual jobs as Commanding Officer of the US Army Medical Laboratory, Europe, and Consultant to the Surgeon, US Army, Europe for all of Europe and Africa.

Today, Norton puts a unique twist to the concept of "retirement." In addition to NAACLS activities, he is Medical Director of two private labs and the Pathologist for a rehabilitation hospital. He is working with six law firms to review cases involving drug and alcohol testing as well as autopsy findings. He often testifies in court. Since 1993, he has served as the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program Commissioner for Northern Ohio, responsible for 140 labs. In the past three years he has inspected overseas labs in Great Britain, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India and Singapore. Later this year he will inspect laboratories in Korea and Japan.

Those of us who have worked with Norton have marveled at his energy and his knowledge of NAACLS and of medicine. We appreciated his willingness to share facets of his very interesting life. We valued his medical acumen, his respect for others, his humor and his kindly nature. Norton will be missed at NAACLS, but certainly not forgotten. We thank him for sharing his talents with NAACLS. This time Norton is serious about retiring from NAACLS, but it is not certain that it will be his last official retirement from accreditation activities. Well done, ye faithful volunteer.

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