Celebrating Lab Week 2025
InFocus • Spring 2025 Issue • May 27, 2025
Our teams are analysts, detectives, and educators - uncovering illnesses before they become life-threatening, finding matches for donors, and identifying crucial evidence to help diagnose patients. Their work behind the scenes directly influences patient safety and quality of care. National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (a.k.a. Lab Week) is an annual celebration of lab professionals and pathologists and the vital role they play in healthcare.
Lab Week is an opportunity to recognize the teams whose work behind the scenes directly influences patient safety and quality of care. This year's theme was "Mystery Machine of Diagnostics: Another Case Solved by the Lab" and our teams had a lot of fun integrating Scooby Doo and his pals into their activities. Scroll below to see how Lab Week 2025 was celebrated across Penn Medicine.
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Daily Lunch & Learn educational sessions offered staff an opportunity to learn, connect, and grow—featuring guest speakers, cross-department insights, and professional development topics. From "Penn gear day" to "Hippie day," theme days added a playful flair to the week’s festivities and encouraged everyone to join in the fun. The ever-popular HUP Pups made special visits to lift spirits and bring smiles to our hardworking teams. Creativity ran high as departments showcased their lab pride with fun and colorful themed door decorations—sparking friendly competition and team spirit. Staff enjoyed fresh, soft pretzels as a midweek treat—a Philly favorite that was a big hit. Cool treats were served to beat the stress and celebrate teamwork during a sweet afternoon break. Staff entered to win beautifully curated gift baskets, generously donated and filled with goodies—adding excitement and appreciation to the week. A portion of the proceeds were donated to ACCT Philly. Off-the-clock fun with colleagues included snacks, refreshments, and time to unwind and celebrate together.
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
Pennsylvania Hospital
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
During National Laboratory Professionals Week, we had the chance to reflect on the dedication and teamwork that defines our lab culture. From medical technologists to lab assistants and pathologists, everyone contributes to a system built on precision, integrity, and continuous learning. This week is an awesome reminder of the value of our profession and the importance of collaboration and quality work ethics. It gives us a moment to set out time to thank our colleagues, celebrate our achievements, and advocate for greater awareness of the critical role laboratories play in the health system. We're proud to be part of a field that blends science with service.
PPMC's Lab Week was filled with joy, laughter, and laboratorians. Our Point-of-Care department organized events with thought and care. We had great vendors like ARUP, Beckman, Cepheid, Roche, Haemonetics, Med Pro Associates, Nova, Radiometer, and Werfen, for Breakfast/Lunch and Learns. There were game books and puzzles throughout the week. Photo ops with the Mystery Machine for the amazing Scooby Doo Theme. By the time Friday came, we were able to wind down with a cool happy hour with both current employees and Lab Alum which made for a great way to end the week!
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
Chester County Hospital
This year, CCH’s Lab had an abundance of games for their staff to play throughout the week. There were several “Guess the Number” jars that included various lab themed items ranging from fake kidney stones and red blood cells to gram positive cocci and gram negative rods. The lab held two competitions - one for the best plate streaking in microbiology and another for the best slide created in Hematology. Supervisors helped with “The Price is Right,” where staff had to guess the price of various equipment and instruments around the lab. Another game involved having all the supervisors and pathologists write the same phrase and the staff had to match the handwriting to the individual. “Can you C. the Difference?” consisted of different types of melted chocolate and staff had to guess which candy bar was in each cup. In “Guess the Scent,” test tubes were filled with different household or kitchen items and staff had to smell and guess. Pathology created a game of super close up images and staff had to guess if it was an actual human tissue or if it was just a zoomed in picture of food. In order for staff to try to get to know each other a little better, we had a match the pet picture to their owner game. Each staff member that contributed a pet photo also had to submit three fun facts about themselves.
In addition to games, staff could participate in a variety of theme days. Monday was our lab week gift shirt from administration, Tuesday was crazy accessory day, and Wednesday was favorite sports team day. On Thursday, each department wore a different color and on Friday, staff could wear any previous year’s Lab Week shirt. Participation in games and theme days resulted in staff being rewarded with raffle tickets that they could enter to be selected for the prize. Months of fundraising by the Lab Activities Committee helped to fund gift cards for prizes for games and theme days, a special goodie bag for every staff member, and food deliveries for our outpatient locations and staff on second and third shifts.
All of the efforts to coordinate food, games, and prizes were thanks to the wonderful CCH Laboratory Activities Committee, as well as the Department Supervisors, who coordinated with their vendors to set up presentations with food donations throughout the week. The chair of the Laboratory Activities Committee, Katie Kramaric, went above and beyond to also reach out to additional businesses that would help contribute either food or prizes. Special thanks to Limoncello, Opa Taverna, Longwood Gardens, Twin Valley Coffee, Herr’s Snack Company, America’s Pie, Crumbl Cookies and many more for your contributions to CCH’s lab week! Thank you to the vendors who gave presentations this yea, including Cepheid, Sysmex, Beckman Coulter, Neogenomics, ARUP, Medline, Caris, and Leica. We are also incredibly thankful to our HR department for sponsoring two sets of two Phillies tickets as prizes.
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
Lancaster General Health
Throughout the week, LGH Path & Lab held a baking contest, a Lab Coat decorating contest, and played "Find the Hidden Scooby Dos" for prizes. Roche Diagnostics provided breakfast during their Lunch & Learn on the history of the Benchmark IHC Stainer. Path & Lab was recognized by the hospital and system with a customized Legacy Moments message from HR, a Blood Bank and Pre-Hospital Transfusions highlight on Penn Medicine's social media, and a Point-of-Care Testing feature on the HR My Career Path StarNet page. Theme days included "Crazy sock day," "Crazy headband day," and "Sports day." LGH Lab Staff enjoyed soft pretzel and fresh popcorn treats and even snapped pictures at a Scooby Van Photo Booth!
A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make this year's Lab Week as incredible as it was! Although Lab Week is just one week out of the year, our entire Department's hard work and dedication are evident daily. The success of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Penn Medicine wouldn't be possible without the tireless work of all of our teams. Thank you for all you do!
