BGH lab provides excellent local care
When you get your annual physical, undoubtedly your health care provider performs laboratory tests and then provides you with numbers with an indication if those numbers are normal or not. Recently, a friend said that instead of sending her to BGH for her blood draw, she was told that it would be done right there in the doctor’s office.
A convenience for our friend? Sure. But, according to Connie Malone, Bonner General Hospital’s Laboratory Manager, those samples will not be processed here by our 21 professional laboratory technicians, but sent to Seattle or Portland or somewhat better to Spokane.
“I want the public to know they have the choice. They can tell their doctor that they prefer to have their blood drawn at the hospital,” Malone said. “Then they are supporting our local community.”
And, as for convenience, it’s really never that far to the hospital’s lab which prides itself on not keeping patients waiting very long. And if you consider the inconvenience of not having a hospital here and always having to travel south, it’s huge. But, that’s not going to happen.
But what is going to happen with your samples? They’re driven to Spokane, put on a FedEx flight and then driven to the lab where they are processed. Then the physician or family nurse practitioner is faxed or emailed the results between 24 and 48 hours later.
“These labs are excellent, don’t get me wrong,” Malone said. The hospital uses a lab in Spokane for some of the most complicated, low volume testing. “But here it’s processed fresh. Blood drawn at 9 a.m. will be processed immediately and the medico will have results by the afternoon or sooner. Any test marked ‘stat’ will be processed within the hour, often less. Plus, we eliminate the possibility of the specimen deteriorating which they can do over time.”
Next week is National Labora-tory Week (April 21-27) and Malone wants you to know that the best attribute of her staff isn’t just how well qualified they are to do the job and they are above being well qualified, but the fact that they care about you as a patient. You aren’t just a drop of blood, urine or stool.
With an eye to offering the best testing possible here locally the lab will be installing a new chemistry analyzer within the next couple of months. This replacement equipment will add the ability to perform over seventy different tests, roughly 20 percent more than the old one.
“The one we’re replacing is past its prime,” Malone said. “The new one will give us the ability to offer tests we couldn’t do before. We can now perform over 90 percent of the tests ordered. We don’t do hormone studies here because of the low volume, and coagulation factor studies require specialized equipment. We also don’t do legal blood testing. Just about everything else we can do.”
The thirteen lab techs and eight phlebotomists at Bonner Gen are typically the behind-the-scene integral part of your health care. If you take anything away from this, let it be that you can tell your health care provider that you want your labs performed at the hospital and that you can be assured the highest quality results if you do so.
Kathy Hubbard is a trustee on Bonner General Hospital Foundation Board. She can be reached at 264-4029 or kathyleehubbard@yahoo.com.