National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is an annual celebration of the medical laboratory professionals and pathologists who play a vital role in every aspect of health care, and provide the profession with a unique opportunity to increase public understanding of and appreciation for clinical laboratory personnel. Every day, nurses, physicians, and other healthcare workers depend on laboratory professionals to perform tests on blood and other body fluids, interpret the results, and help provide a complete picture of a patient's health.
Accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), McLaren Medical Laboratory is a 40,000-sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility that provides the surrounding medical community with accurate, timely and convenient diagnostic resources. MML's full-service facility performs comprehensive clinical and anatomical pathology services for McLaren Health Care, including microbiology testing, outpatient testing, testing currently sent to reference laboratories, and any non-urgent inpatient testing. In fact, McLaren Laboratories perform nearly 9 million tests per year with approximately 40% of these tests being performed at MML.
In addition to the medical director, McLaren Medical Laboratory team members include pathologists, medical technologists, medical laboratory technicians, histology technicians, cytologists, technical assistants, as well as non-clinical personnel in customer service, administration, finance, information systems, facilities management, compliance and supply chain.
When asked what their favorite part of working at MML was, employees gave a variety of answers. Darcey Palumbo, Microbiology Supervisor, said: "Problem solving! Each culture is like a new puzzle that needs to be solved." Carrie McIntosh, Medical Technologist, stated: "Knowing that I'm making a difference in a patient's life "“ not just the plates or test tubes." Kaitlin Breedan, Medical Technologist, also responded: "Knowing that I'm providing a positive impact on patient care." When asked the same question, Julie Kilbourn, Medical Technologist, responded: "My favorite part of my job is being a part of the team." Whatever the reason, it is apparent that MML does much more than analyze slides.
McLaren Medical Laboratory is an essential part of the McLaren team, ensuring that patients are provided accurate, timely and vital information to make informed health decisions. Medical laboratory professionals are held to the highest standards, and protect public health and safety.