The laboratory at Wheeling Hospital is a full service clinical laboratory that offers patients and physicians a convenient and high quality testing service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Routine and esoteric procedures are performed daily to provide physicians with diagnostic information as rapidly as possible. Enhancements in the medical technology field are constantly being reviewed and evaluated for the benefit of patients’ health.

State-of-the-art automation and computerization, combined with a highly skilled technical and support staff, provide better patient care. The staff physicians are board-certified pathologists. The medical technologists, medical laboratory technicians and cytotechnologists are licensed by the State of West Virginia and are registered with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists or the National Certification Agency for Medical Laboratory Personnel.

• Accreditation, Licensing and Memberships
• Center for Disease Control l 47-1006
• College of American Pathologists 13909-01
• Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration 1171359
• Department of Health & Human Services, Health Care Financing Administration CLIA ID 1D0235691
• Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
• National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards
• West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
• West Virginia Drug Enforcement Administration
• Proficiency testing services provided by the College of American Pathologists

Specimen Collection Services

Monday through Friday: 6:30 am to 5:30 pm
Saturday: 7 am to noon

After registering in the Outpatient Registration Department located near the Tower 4 entrance, patients go to the laboratory where the tests will be ordered and the specimens will be collected as efficiently as possible. All routine blood draws are processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

If a doctor gives the specimen to the patient for delivery to the lab, the patient must register in the Outpatient Registration Department before delivering the specimen. Physicians may also collect specimens in their offices and submit then directly to the laboratory with patients’ insurance information. In this situation, patients will not have to go to the laboratory.

A few specimens, such as 24-hour urine specimens, are collected by the patient at home. Instructions are provided by the laboratory. Patients must register in the Outpatient Registration Department before dropping off the specimens.

As a convenience to patients, additional specimen collection facilities are available. See the Affiliated Laboratories and Collection Sites on the Blood Collection page for more information.

Patient Preparation

To expedite lab visits patients should:

• Register in Outpatient Registration and bring insurance card.
• Bring doctor’s orders. The lab cannot perform testing without a physician’s orders. The lab accepts orders from all physicians, including those not in the local area.
• Follow doctor’s instructions. A physician may advise that some tests can only be collected at certain times during the day, or only on select days during the week, or after a period of fasting.

Fasting Requirements

For most lab tests, a fasting specimen is preferred but not required. The physician should specify if fasting is necessary. The tests listed below require fasting so that an accurate result may be obtained. This means the patient should not eat or drink (except for water) for the length of time indicated below prior to having their blood drawn. The patient should take regularly scheduled medications.

Patients should fast 10-12 hours before having the following tests drawn:

• Fasting Glucose
• Glucose Tolerance
• Lipid Panel
• Triglycerides