National Laboratory Month; Veterans Memorial Hospital Lab brings more testing in-house
In-house lab testing at VMH... Recently, the Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory, with the help of the Health Care Foundation, added a new piece of equipment to allow more testing to be performed in-house. This new GI Panel Analyzer was purchased with the help of the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation and tests for 22 of the most significant causes of infectious diarrheal illnesses, including bacteria, parasites and viruses. With this new machine now in-house, the test only takes a little over an hour. Pictured with the new GI Panel Analyzer is Medical Laboratory Technicians Michelle Benda, M.L.T., at left, with Jenna Rosendahl, M.L.T., at right. Submitted photo.
April is National Laboratory Month. Recently, the Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory, with the help of the Health Care Foundation, added a new piece of equipment to allow for more testing to be performed in-house.
The need for fast, sensitive and specific results for causes of diarrheal illness are extremely important. The new GI Panel Analyzer is very beneficial to that aspect. A GI Panel tests for 22 of the most significant causes of infectious diarrheal illnesses, including bacteria, parasites and viruses. This analyzer tests for these organisms’ DNA, making it extremely sensitive and specific. Plus, with this new machine now in-house, the test only takes a little over an hour.
“The earlier we know the causative agent, the earlier the patient is put on isolation precautions, and the less exposed each nurse and healthcare worker is to this disease, and in turn the less exposed other patients and visitors are to this disease,” states Beth Fitzpatrick, M.T., Laboratory Supervisor at Veterans Memorial Hospital. “This new machine now cuts a possible two-day wait for results into just an hour, which helps speed up the treatment and shorten the length of a patient’s hospital stay and their recovery.”
If a hospital patient needs to be on isolation precautions due to an infection, it is crucial to prevent the spread of this disease within the hospital. Minutes count when it comes to the spread of disease. Every nurse or healthcare professional that comes in contact with that patient before results are known has the potential to spread disease to another patient. Also, when a patient is unnecessarily on isolation precautions, when they do not have an infectious disease, unnecessary cost and time are spent not only by nurses and other healthcare professionals, but by housekeeping also. This new machine helps to quickly pinpoint the infection so proper care can be taken, helping the patient and keeping staff and visitors healthy as well.
As the future of microbiology evolves to include more and more molecular and DNA testing, the test turn-around time will continue to decrease, thus improving patient outcomes and satisfaction.
For more information on this new testing availability at Veterans Memorial Hospital, call the Laboratory at 563-568-3411.
