Laboratory Services
Lea Regional Medical Center's Laboratory is a full service laboratory serving Lea County's healthcare needs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The laboratory and the laboratory staff are accredited by the following organizations:
- College of American Pathologists (CAP)
- Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO)
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP)
- American Medical Technologists (AMT)
In order to provide physicians and their patients with the most efficient quality care, specimens are collected and processed using state of the art laboratory instrumentation. Once the specimens are collected and processed, results of the testing performed are made available to the physician.
LRMC's laboratory staff consists of a variety of specialties, including a pathologist, medical technologists, medical laboratory technicians, microbiologists, histotechnicians and phlebotomists. Within the laboratory, these highly educated and experienced medical laboratory professionals work in chemistry, serology, hematology, cytology, microbiology, coagulation, histology, urinalysis and blood bank.
The Chemistry department uses sophisticated automated instruments and methods to analyze many different chemical components of blood and other body fluids.
The Hematology department studies the cellular components of blood. Some of these cells include the leukocytes, or white blood cells; the erythrocytes, or red blood cells; and platelets. Anemias, leukemias and a wide variety of diseases are detected through hematological methods.
Blood banking is the laboratory's process of establishing the compatibility of blood and its components (from a donor) with the blood of patients for transfusion purposes. The hospital's blood supply is provided by United Blood Services.
The Coagulation department involves laboratory testing and analysis of the clotting mechanisms of blood. Many medications affect these clotting mechanisms and patients must be monitored carefully throughout their therapeutic regimens.
The Microbiology department is concerned with the identification of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites) that can cause infectious diseases in humans. Once these microorganisms have been identified, the microbiologist will be able to specify the most effective drug to treat a particular infection.
In the Histology department, all tissues removed by biopsy or surgery are examined under the microscope by the Pathologist who makes a diagnosis. The Pathologist also assists surgeons during operations by providing immediate diagnoses on biopsies (sometimes called frozen sections) - specially treated tissues removed in surgery and rushed to the laboratory.
LRMC laboratory provides its services to hospital patients as well as outpatients. Test results provided by the laboratory are used to confirm medical diagnoses and to help rule out illnesses. In this age of health consciousness, laboratory tests are also used as screening tools to assure individuals are maintaining good health. LRMC laboratory's focus is to provide quality, accurate, and timely laboratory results to ensure the most efficient quality patient care.
For more information about the laboratory department, please call (575) 492-5535.