"Staff Shortages in Labs May Put Patients at Peril"
Wall Street Journal May 13 2009
Click on article title for full text.
"Like the growing shortages of primary-care doctors and nurses, the shrinking ranks of skilled lab workers pose a potential threat to the safety and quality of health care, medical experts warn. Hospitals say it currently can take as much as a year to fill some job openings. And the American Society for Clinical Pathology, which certifies lab professionals, says average job-vacancy rates currently top 50% in some states. The group is lobbying for federal and state funds to keep some academic training programs alive and raise awareness of the problem.
Besides testing for deadly viruses and infections, lab technicians, who currently number about 300,000 nationwide, perform such vital tests as diagnosing heart attacks and identifying cancerous tumors. There is no firm evidence to link the growing shortage of lab professionals to an increase in errors or a national slowdown in getting results to patients. But to head off that eventuality, hospitals and professional groups are taking new steps to increase funding for training and to lure new recruits."
This is a must-read for the Goodwih Community!
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