Laboratory 24/7 › Services

The laboratory at Lower Keys Medical Center is fully accredited by The Joint Commission, CAP and certified by CLIA as a high-complexity laboratory capable of providing a wide variety of lab services to our inpatients and outpatients.

Our laboratory staff is certified and licensed by the State of Florida and meets or exceeds requirements for accreditation. In addition, our lab also has an active outreach program that provides same-day service to the area's physician clinics. 

Our laboratory is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and offers a comprehensive test menu by utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and the latest in technology. Most tests are performed in-house, resulting in a faster turnaround time.

Registration Areas and Hours - Our Laboratory is open and staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Patients must have a physicians written order for services. There are two registration areas in the hospital.

The main registration area is located in the back hall on the first floor of the hospital. Main Registration is open Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. All other hours please register at the emergency department waiting room windows.

Laboratory Appointments or Scheduling - Patients can come in for outpatient diagnostic testing without appointments or scheduling. Exceptions include glucose tolerance testing and sperm counts which should be scheduled with the one-Call Scheduling at (305) 292-9353.

Federal Certification - Our Laboratory is registered as a high complexity laboratory as required by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA). CLIA requires that the test inventory only include tests/instruments, which are approved and registered through the FDA; therefore, non-approved tests will not be done. The Laboratory is fully accredited by The Joint Commission.

Laboratory Staff - The Laboratory department is staffed by the pathologist, medical technologists and technicians, histotechnologist and phlebotomists. The pathologist is certified by the American Board of Pathology on Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. Technologists and technicians are mandated to be licensed by the State of Florida and may also be certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP) or other laboratory approved accrediting agency. Phlebotomists are not required to be certified although some of our staff has obtained national certification. 

Our pathologist is available in-house Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM until approximately 2:00 PM. After hours the Pathologist is available on-call for questions or emergencies by pager.

Laboratory Requests - Our Laboratory will perform tests and examine specimens only at the written or electronic request of an authorized person (an individual authorized under State law to order tests or receive test results, or both). This requirement is a federal law and is also a requirement of our accrediting organization. Our Laboratory reserves the right to question any order, which may be ambiguous or does not meet, established criteria of tests performed here or at authorized reference laboratories.

Disclaimer: Unforeseen circumstances in either the hospital laboratory or the reference laboratory, (i.e. instrument or computer failure, laboratory error involving a specimen), may result in delays of reporting patient results. These situations are limited and beyond our control.