Public Health Laboratory is a specially licensed laboratory
responsible for supporting all disease control and environmental
health activities within PHP&S.
The PHL supports epidemiologic
investigations and programs to prevent and control infectious disease
and pollution of air, water, and food. The PHL provides laboratory
services for county public health and personal health centers, 6
county hospitals, county environmental management and veterinary
units, and private providers. Organizationally, PHL is divided into
the following divisions: General Bacteriology, TB and Mycology,
Parasitology, Serology, Virology, Molecular Diagnostics, Molecular
Epidemiology, Environmental Microbiology, Support Services and
Nondiagnostic General Health Assessment (NGHA) Office.
The NGHA office was established in 1992 as a result of Assembly Bill
185. This legislative bill gave the County the responsiblility for
registration and enforcement activities for non-diagnostic health
assessments involving the testing of human biological specimens for
the purpose of referral to licensed sources of care. Oversight of
this statute consists of program protocol and personnel review,
permit issuance, site surveys, and consultations. All elements of an
NGHA program must meet the requirements of the California Business
and Professions Code Division 2, Chapter 3, Sections 1244-1244.4
prior to permit issuance.
|
|
The California Conference of Local Health Officers (CCLHO) proclaimed
in its Platform Statement (1990) that Public Health Laboratory
services should comprise seven basic functions, which include:
Assistance in Diagnosis, Control and Prevention of Those Illnesses
of Public Health Concern
Providing clinical diagnostic services to the local health department
categorical clinics (e.g., tuberculosis, sexually transmitted
diseases (STD), Family Planning and/or primary care clinics) is
currently the main role of local public health laboratories. In
addition to aiding in diagnosis, detection of multi-drug resistant TB
or B-lactmase producing gonorrhea strains, the local public health
laboratory helps to prevent these particularly dangerous strains from
becoming established in the community. Uncovering asymptomatic STD
carriers in screening programs, or determining HIV prevalence in high-
risk surveillance studies are also every-day examples of prevention.
Effective control of communicable diseases is impossible without a
laboratory.
Assistance in Epidemiological Investigations
Testing of both suspect food products and specimens from food
handlers is an example of how the public health laboratory assists to
determine the source of food-borne outbreak.
Monitoring and Control of Environmental Health and Safety
Routine monitoring via laboratory testing of potable and recreational
waters, dairy products and certain food items is mandated by various
federal agencies such as EPA and USDA to ensure the safety of these
products to the public. Public health laboratories are usually
certified to meet this need, whereas clinical laboratories are
not.
Assistance in the Evaluation and Research of Health Programs in
the Community
Detecting asymptomatic carriers of infectious diseases and
serological surveillance for assessing local prevalence all are
examples of public health laboratory-supported health evaluations of
the community.
Provision of Laboratory Services for Specialized Health Department
Programs
Lyme disease testing, serology for Coccidioides immitis, flow
cytometry for monitoring CD4 cell levels in HIV infected patients are
examples of how public health laboratories have responded to the
particular needs of the local population served.
Provision of Information and Consultation to Private Laboratories
and the Medical Community
In addition to providing direct reference laboratory testing such as
syphilis confirmatory testing to blood banks, and TB identification
and drug testing to hospital laboratories, public health laboratories
provide training and consultation to the local health community.
Provision of Laboratory Services Not Otherwise Available
Providing laboratory services not available locally has long been the
history and continues to be a dynamic role played by the public
health laboratory. Testing for HIV is the most recent example
wherein the local laboratories brought this service on board amid an
environment of fear and anxiety of this yet incompletely understood
disease. Rabies testing is yet another example of a specialized test
so necessary in this State which reports over 500 rabid animals per
year.
Laboratory Information
CLIENT SERVICES
Our staff is dedicated to providing you with responsive, personal
service. Our hours of coverage are from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The Public
Health Laboratory's client response staff is available to answer all
questions relating to testing schedules, patient results, specimen
collection and transport, collection supplies, and availability of
tests. If you need detailed technical information, we will connect
you with a member of the laboratory's technical staff.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Quality Assurance implies the continual effort to
improve the quality of service that the Public Health Laboratory
provides to their clients either directly or indirectly. To
accomplish this end, a quality assurance program must look at the
whole picture and all of its component or interactive parts.
The goal of the Los Angeles County Public Health
Laboratory is to provide tests of high quality that will meet or
exceed the continuing needs and expectations of the physicians and
patients who depend on our service. Ultimately, the goal is to remain
the qualified leader in the field of laboratory diagnostic testing.
The Quality Assurance Program coordinates the various
activities in the Public Health Laboratory to ensure that the correct
result is reported on the correct patient in a timely manner and to
detect, control and prevent the occurrence of errors.
Quality control of all media, reagents and equipment
is done before and/or concurrently with all test procedures.
Standards and/or test controls ensure accuracy, reliability and
reproducibility of test results.
The laboratory subscribes to state authorized
proficiency testing programs as well as doing internal testing. The
primary objective of this testing is to provide the laboratory with
periodic indications of the quality and accuracy of test
performance.
REPORTING OF TEST RESULTS
Specimens are processed upon receipt and results are
returned to submitter when testing is completed. Turnaround times
vary with the amount of time required to make the various test
determinations.
Urgent reports are telephoned when the results are
available. Other reports are faxed or mailed as submitter requests.
The laboratory will notify submitter by telephone of
the following:
Test results on specimens from patients in
sensitive occupations.
Positive results for cerebrospinal fluids, V.
cholerae, B.pertussis, malaria, E. histolytica, and other selected
tests of public health significance.
All results from rabies specimens. In addition,
positive rabies results are reported to the Public Health
Investigation Division immediately.
CONSULTATION
Personnel in the testing sections are available to answer questions
regarding test procedures and interpretation of results.
|
|
Public Health Laboratory is a specially licensed laboratory
responsible for supporting all disease control and environmental
health activities within PHP&S. The PHL supports epidemiologic
investigations and programs to prevent and control infectious
disease and pollution of air, water, and food. The PHL provides
laboratory services for county public health and personal health
centers, 5 county hospitals, county environmental management and
veterinary units, and private providers. Organizationally, PHL is
divided into the following divisions: General Bacteriology, TB and
Mycology, Parasitology, Serology, Virology, Molecular Diagnostics,
Molecular Epidemiology, Environmental Microbiology, Support Services,
and Nondiagnostic General Health Assessment (NGHA) Office.
|