Laboratory Services
Grant Memorial Hospital offers a full range of laboratory testing, using state-of-the-art equipment. Our laboratory, which prides itself on accuracy and speed, is available around the clock to support patient care in every area of the hospital.
Laboratory tests are available to meet the needs of our patients, medical staff, and referring physicians to correctly diagnose and treat each patient who comes to Grant Memorial Hospital. The lab is staffed by professionals trained in medical laboratory sciences and overseen by a licensed pathologist.
Treatments and Services
Tests are performed on blood, urine, and body fluids to assist in diagnosis and treatment of disease. Special emphasis is placed on providing quality diagnostics in the following specialties:
- Chemistry – This area of the laboratory tests the serum/plasma for a wide array of substances, such as lipids, blood sugar, enzymes, and renal function tests.
- Coagulation – This area requires citrated blood specimens to analyze blood clotting times and coagulation factors.
- Hematology – In this area of the laboratory, whole blood is used to perform complete blood counts (CBC) and review blood smears as well as other specialized tests.
- Immunohematology/blood bank – Regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), this area checks patient blood type and Rh status, checks for antibodies to common antigens found on red blood cells, and cross matches units that are negative for the antigen. Our laboratory utilizes American Red Cross for blood products.
- Immunology/serology – This area utilizes the concept of antigen-antibody interaction as a diagnostic tool.
- Microbiology – This area of the laboratory receives almost any clinical specimen, including swabs, feces, urine, blood sputum, cerebrospinal fluid, and synovial fluid, as well as possible infected tissue. The work here is mainly concerned with cultures to look at suspected pathogens that, if found, are further identified based on biochemical tests. Sensitivity testing is performed to determine whether the pathogen is sensitive or resistant to a suggested medicine.
- Urinalysis – This area is known as routine and microscopic, is an array of tests performed on urine, and one of the most common methods of medical diagnosis.