University of Rochester Clinical Lab Services
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National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week 2013 April 22-26 Honoring Medical Laboratory Professionals
The laboratory professionals at URMC Labs are quietly doing amazing things each day. We thank these tireless people...but we never stop appreciating them, every single week of the year. READ BELOW for more on 2013 Lab Week
URMC Labs represents a new way of running a lab. We go beyond simply having the most locations in the area, to doing things in a truly collaborative way. We actively solicit input from our partner physicians, and put those good ideas into practice. The result is a lab that works the way you need it to, from our requisition forms, to our web site, to our customer service staff, to everything.
With more than 900 Faculty, Residents, Medical Technologists, Laboratory Support Staff, Phlebotomists, and Technicians, the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine provides a vast array of anatomic and clinical laboratory diagnostic services and blood/stem cell therapeutics in support of direct patient care and research activities here at the Medical Center. It is estimated that 70% of clinical decisions are based on clinical laboratory results, so when you are in the hospital, you are likely to benefit from the services of our medical laboratory professionals. With 32 patient service centers and courier services making >1,000 sample pickups from >100 physician practices every day, in addition to serving numerous nursing homes in the Finger Lakes region, as well as the outreach program of the Clinical Laboratories, the medical laboratory has a strong community presence. Please take a moment to recognize the important work done by this “behind the scenes” group of dedicated professionals who generate quality laboratory results in a timely manner, which allows our clinicians to provide “Medicine of the Highest Order.”
Recently, the laboratories opened the doors to our “neighbors” in the Emergency Department (see attached pictures taken during the visits.). Two groups of Emergency Department nursing staff toured the Specimen Management, Chemistry, Hematology and the Blood Bank to learn more about the work being done in the laboratories. The Chemistry and Hematology units alone (both 24/7 facilities employing over 80 New York State- licensed medical technologists) are responsible for nearly 9 million tests per year or nearly 25,000 tests per day. The interactions were very positive for both groups. The plan is to have reciprocal tours for the laboratory staff in the ED and expand this interaction to other hospital units in the hope that a mutual understanding of what each group brings to patient care will develop and lead to an enhancement of the ICARE values practiced by staff in both areas. Dr. Yan Zhang, Associate Director of the Chemistry and Hematology Laboratory and the Toxicology (Mass Spectrometry) Laboratory expressed her sincere appreciation to Dr. Wendy Gelbard and the Emergency Department faculty and staff members for their strong support of this initiative.
During National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, which runs from April 22 - 26, the laboratory will hold a series of events, such as State of the Lab Address, Daily Puzzles, Bakeoff and Sharing, and Bagel Day to mark the occasion.
Figure 1. Ms. Barbara Meiklejohn sharing an article about hemolysis with the ED nurses during the tour.
Figure 2. Ms. Holly Smock (the SMS Supervisor) showing the pre-analytical area to the ED nursing group
Figure 3. Dr. Yan Zhang explaining the chemistry laboratory workflow to the ED nursing group.
Figure 4. Dr. Neil Blumberg explaining the blood bank sample process to the ED nursing group.
Strong Memorial Hospital Labs 24-Hour Information: (585) 350-2600 or toll-free (800) 747-4769.
Highland Hospital Laboratories: (585) 341-6743
