Pro g r e s s N ote s
MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS TO PATHOLOGY LAB Torrance Memorial invests in high-quality improvements to this testing center. WRITTEN BY NANCY SOKOLER STEINER | PHOTOGRAPHED BY VINCENT RIOS
Core laboratory manager Patty Drew had the honer of cutting the ribbon to celebrate with Abbott Laboratory Inc. representatives and Torrance Memorial staff.
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few drops of blood. An ounce or two of urine. These simple substances can reveal what’s going on inside the body, giving physicians information crucial to successfully treating their patients. In fact, 70% of clinical decisions rely on lab tests, says Ihab Abumuhor, director of Torrance Memorial Medical Center’s pathology and clinical laboratory. Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the lab performs more than 4½ million tests annually. Thanks to Torrance Memorial’s investment in renovations and new technologies, lab services are of higher quality and greater efficiency than ever before. “Our goal is to provide high-quality,
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accurate, timely and innovative clinical laboratory services,” says Abumuhor. “We aim to turn around 95% of blood chemistry tests, CBCs and coagulation tests within 45 minutes.” Blood chemistry tests are used to evaluate and screen for many conditions including electrolyte balance, kidney function and liver function. CBC, or complete blood count, measures the types and numbers of cells in the blood. Coagulation tests, such as prothrombin time, measure how long it takes blood to clot. NEW TESTING SYSTEM
The ambitious 45-minute goal became possible thanks to several major updates. The first involved a lab reconstruction to
remove the previous testing platform and install a new Alinity system. The new platform allows for faster, more accurate results while increasing capacity and lowering costs. It has a fully automated track, meaning once a sample is placed on the track, the system performs all the steps required without a technician needing to move or prepare samples. These steps include: • Reading the barcode on the samples • Determining the type of tests needed and routing samples to the appropriate instrument(s) • Centrifuging the tube and uncapping it • Portioning the samples • Separating samples that need to be sent out from those done in-house
