What will recent medical lab sale mean for fast results?

The recently announced sale of patient medical service centers is sparking concern that lab results will take longer, making it tougher to get a jump on outbreaks in Whatcom County.

On Feb. 15, PeaceHealth said it was selling its laboratory services to Quest Diagnostics. The lab at St. Joseph hospital will remain owned by PeaceHealth but will be managed by Quest. The eight patient service centers in Whatcom County currently owned and operated by PeaceHealth will become Quest centers this spring if the deal passes regulatory review.

The patient service centers are places where people can go to get blood tests and other services. There are six PeaceHealth patient centers in Bellingham, one in Ferndale and one in Lynden, according to the PeaceHealth website.

Workers are being told that tests done at the hospital lab will decrease, with the tests from the patient centers being sent to other out-of-area labs.

If the results do take longer, it could also have an impact on outbreaks, said Megan Hoerler, a medical technologist at PeaceHealth. If there is an outbreak of E. coli, similar to what happened in Lynden in April 2015, any sort of delay could mean more coming in contact with infected people.

Quest maintains it will continue to offer fast lab results. The current expectation is that some of the lab testing will transition to Quest Diagnostics’ rapid response labs in the region, including a full-service lab in Seattle, said Wendy Bost, senior director of corporate communications for Quest. The full transition is expected to take several months after the deal is completed, Bost said.

“Rapid response labs are designed to provide testing for conditions requiring fast – often same-day – testing and results reporting,” Bost said.

While he doesn’t know what changes Quest plans to make, Whatcom County’s health officer Greg Stern said PeaceHealth has been “an incredibly good community partner.”

The turnaround time has been fast, and the lab worked closely with the Whatcom County Health Department, typically giving the agency an early heads-up if there was a possibility of an outbreak, he said. The early warning is helpful because it gives the department a chance to gear up in terms of informing the public, he said. If the final tests confirm an outbreak, the department is able to move forward.

“I’d hate to lose that (quick) turnaround,” Stern said.

An email message left for a PeaceHealth representative asking about lab turnaround times was not returned.

Another point of concern is jobs, especially for the union and its workers. According to numbers from the union SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, PeaceHealth has about 100 lab assistants and 45 technologists in Whatcom County, with about 50 of those combined positions being eliminated.

All of the lab assistants will be asked to reapply for their jobs. If they are rehired by Quest, it will be as nonunion employees. Workers who remain in the St. Joseph hospital lab will be PeaceHealth employees and remain in the union but will report to Quest management.

Last month, PeaceHealth sent a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification to the state, announcing 142 employees will be let go in various locations in Washington. The layoff start date is April 30.

Having to reapply for their jobs is a bit stressful for workers such as Kari Revelstoke, a lab assistant. She said she hasn’t been given much information about the process.

“I have no idea what pay or benefits they will offer,” Revelstoke said.

Bost said Quest is working to provide qualified PeaceHealth caregivers priority in scheduling job interviews.

As a large national firm, Quest will have plenty of resources at its disposal. Based in New Jersey, it is a Fortune 500 company that has 43,000 employees, generating $7.5 billion in revenue in 2015. It also has more than 2,000 patient service centers and consistently makes best-places-to-work lists, according to its website.

“While we are in the early phases of our relationship, we believe it will ultimately extend access to high-quality, innovative services for people across the Pacific Northwest,” Bost said.

This story was originally published March 5, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What will recent medical lab sale mean for fast results?."