A panel of judges selected from the Medical Laboratory Observer (MLO) Editorial Advisory Board has selected Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital Laboratory as the 2019 Lab of the Year. The award comes one year after the hospital’s 125th anniversary serving the Lancaster community in Southeastern Pennsylvania. MLO’s LOY allows medical laboratories to demonstrate their contributions to quality patient care. Medical laboratory submissions are judged on demonstrable achievements in six areas: Customer Service, Productivity, Teamwork, Education and Training, Strategic Outlook, and Lab Inspections.

The LGH laboratory completed a multi-million-dollar expansion in 2014. The original square footage of 28,000 expanded to a 43,000-square-foot laboratory that performs more than two million tests each year. The clinical laboratory renovation was a five-phase project spanning five years. One of many examples of expanding quality systems to meet demands of service took place in the phlebotomy department at LGH. The department was consistently maintaining a low deviation rate since LGH implemented hand-held scanning devices and printers. In 2018, the phlebotomy department reached 356 days without a defect. Established in 1969, Medical Laboratory Observer connects clinical laboratory professionals with peer-reviewed articles, continuing education courses, management tips, regulatory updates, industry trends, and new product reviews.

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