The City of Galax issued a proclamation for Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (MLPW).  Medical Laboratory Professionals Week provides the profession with a unique opportunity to increase public understanding of and appreciation for clinical laboratory personnel.

MLPW, which takes place the last full week in April each year, is coordinated by a collaborative committee with representatives from 17 national clinical laboratory organizations, including ASCLS. Now in its 44th year, it is important to reflect on the important history of MLPW.

Medical Laboratory Professionals Week originated in 1975 as National Medical Laboratory Week, or NMLW, under the auspices of the American Society for Medical Technology, now called the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS). In subsequent years, other organizations have served as cosponsors and campaign supporters.

Willie T. Greene, Mayor of Galax, Virginia provided the proclamation and Cindy Diamond, TCRH Director of Laboratory Services received it on April 12th.

“As a Lab, we have over 473 years of service in the laboratory field,” said Diamond. “That’s quite a bit of experience for a rural hospital community. “Our medical director, Jamie Carlo-Demovich, MD holds a triple board certification and is responsible for the scope, standards and quality of service provided by our lab. In addition to our full service lab, we offer a Lab Direct program that allows customers to order tests based on their individual health concerns at an affordable price and with rapid results.”

The lab at TCRH has impacted the community by offering in-house polymerase chain reaction test (PCR) for COVID-19 virus.