State recognizes medical laboratory professionals

In honor of National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a proclamation Friday setting aside a week to recognize the unsung heroes of the hospital on a state level.

National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week began Sunday and runs through Saturday. While medical laboratory professionals across the country have celebrated this week annually for several years, Hope Hollyfield, a supervisor of the outpatient laboratory at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, felt the state was behind the pack.

“Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is recognized nationally each year but I felt like it was just not something that was on the state’s radar. So two years ago, I thought about reaching out to the governor to just see if maybe I could get a proclamation signed for the state of Arkansas to recognize this week,” Hollyfield said.

“You talk about the hospital and, a lot of times, people only think about the doctors and nurses and they forget that there are so many more people that are involved behind the scenes,” she said.

Hollyfield said she does not know whether it will change how the state deals with the weeklong recognition in the future, but she hopes the proclamation brings awareness to a vital department within hospitals across the state.

“Without laboratory professionals, your nurses and doctors are not going to know what they need to know to help a patient get back on their feet. We’re that silent party that nobody knows about but we’re there making a difference in patients’ lives every day,” she said.

According to Hollyfield, the term laboratory professional includes a wide variety of professions from phlebotomists to pathologists. Although they do not directly interact with patients, they are the first to know whether a patient’s tumor is cancerous and what a patient will need to make a sound recovery.

Hollyfield said many people who work in medical laboratories have similar desires to help people like doctors and nurses, but without the desire to directly interact with patients. However, she said she often finds herself getting attached to a patient from running the different tests each individual needs.

“We want people coming into the hospital to know about us and know that there is somebody there that’s pulling for them, even if they don’t see them in their room every day. There is always a laboratory professional behind the scenes fighting for a patient,” she said.