For Immediate Release:
Contact Person:
Henry F. Robertson
Marketing Coordinator
252-535-8585 [email protected]
Halifax Regional Medical Center
Halifax Regional Medical Center Honors Laboratory Workers During
National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week
Halifax Regional Medical Center is celebrating the contributions of its laboratory professionals during National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, April 23 through 29. This year’s theme, “Laboratory Professionals: Providing Answers, Guiding Cures” highlights the medical laboratory’s role as a key element of patient care.
“Laboratory medicine provides a crucial thread that runs through the entire patient care process,” said Dr. Kamlesh Gupta, pathologist at Halifax Regional Medical Center. “Test results from the laboratory drive a significant portion of clinical decisions, from diagnosis to therapy. National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week provides an opportunity to honor the contributions of pathologists, laboratory technologists and technicians in the maintenance of wellness, the diagnosis of illness and the treatment of disease,” she Said.
More than 10 billion laboratory tests are performed in the United States each year, 350,000 of which are performed at Halifax Regional Medical Center, to confirm diagnoses, rule out suspected conditions or monitor treatment. Medical laboratory professionals are dedicated to preventing serious illness and disability from before a child is born and throughout the golden years of life. Using state-of-the-art technology and instrumentation, they perform and supervise tests that not only search for potential health problems in the hope of identifying the disease early when it is most treatable, but also guide and assess the ongoing care of patients.
The laboratory also plays a critical, front-line role in the detection of infectious agents, such as those that might be employed in a bioterrorist attack.
“The community laboratory often is the first to see evidence of an infectious agent in a patient sample,” said Bruce Robistow, Administrative director of Diagnostic Services. “Our contribution at the local level is critical to a process that, ultimately, protects us all from the spread of disease.”
Several clinical vendors have donated prizes to be raffled off and are donating lunch or treats to help the lab celebrate. The lab will also use this week to increase hospital awareness of their department and the contributions that laboratory employees make each day.
Medical laboratory professionals practice in medical laboratories in hospitals, doctors’ offices, clinics, research facilities, blood banks, public health centers, the Armed Forces, veterinary offices, colleges, and many industries. Titles include pathologists, medical technologist, clinical laboratory scientist, medical laboratory technician, histotechnologist, histologic technician, cytotechnologist, cytopathologist, phlebotomy technician, clinical chemist, microbiologist, laboratory manager, and medical educator. Among the departments that make up the medical laboratory are chemistry, serology, hematology, cytology, microbiology, immunology, coagulation, histology, urinalysis, and the blood bank. |