The MUHC inaugurated its centralized laboratories Wednesday.
In operation since the Glen site opened last year, the labs use high-tech automation to speed up analysis and treatment.
As many as 1,200 medical samples are analyzed in the new central labs every hour. Thanks to automation, results can be ready in about 30 minutes, about a third the time it used to take.
Turnaround time is the key to effective treatment, explained Dr. Ewa Sidorowicz, the MUHC director of professional services.
“The quicker you get those results back, the quicker you can get the patient diagnosed, treated and hopefully on their way home,” she said.
Sidorowicz said automation has also brought about better quality.
“Every time you have a human intervention, there's the possibility of error,” she explained.
The labs on the fourth floor of the MUHC's Research Institute process samples for the entire Glen site as well as the Lachine Hospital and three quarters of the samples for the Montreal General Hospital.
“The MUHC is still on several sites,” explained Sidorowicz. “We have four different sites, so everything is centralized here.”
Urgent tests are still handled at the other sites for patients in ERs requiring immediate results.
The lab also runs as many as 1.2 million tests annually for other hospitals and clinics across the province.
“All the way up to up north and to Abitibi-Témiscamingue, so there are samples coming in from everywhere,” said Sidorowicz.
The labs also store samples for a few days so they can be retrieved and retested if needed.
“We don't need to go back to the patient and take a second, with a needle and go back and take some more blood and then more blood. It's a major change. For the patient experience, it's much better,” said MUHC president Normand Rinfret.
The plan is to create other labs like this throughout the province to speed up test results and treatment across Quebec.
