COLA is honored to participate in celebrating all laboratory heroes during National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week. While the work of laboratorians has been highlighted during the pandemic, these dedicated and sometimes unsung heroes consistently work behind the scenes to provide high quality laboratory testing as a vital part of healthcare.
COLA’s Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Stratton, kicks off this week with a message to laboratory professionals nationwide. “I started my career as a medical technologist in various laboratory settings, and I know just how important these professionals are and how little credit they get. This is why National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is so important, as we recognize laboratorians who work meticulously every day to get tests right for patients. Laboratorians are key to upholding the highest levels of patient care. They offer invaluable expertise related to test results during the diagnosis process and throughout treatment. COLA appreciates and emphasizes the contributions of all medical laboratory professionals. All those working in laboratories, including phlebotomists, processors, data entry staff, couriers, laboratory warehouse personnel, and testing personnel, are crucial to upholding the highest quality of care.”
To help these hard-working individuals, COLA is sponsoring the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Lab Week Run. This virtual 5k run can be run anywhere at any time during Medical Laboratory Professionals Week. The funds raised from this race will support members of the Ascending Professionals Forum and Developing Professionals Forum to attend the ASCLS Annual Meeting and the Legislative Symposium. The travel grants allow members to attend these events who may not have the means to otherwise.
COLA also offers the GiveBack365 scholarship program to foster awareness of careers in the medical laboratory field and to support the individuals who will become the future of the industry. The annual scholarships provide support to students pursuing a degree in the field of Medical Laboratory Science within an accredited program.
COLA has also joined forces with healthcare professionals by sharing timely CDC Laboratory Outreach Communication System (LOCS) alerts to keep laboratorians and the public informed. COLA has also launched several new product lines, like its Pathology accreditation, to help bring the highest level of quality and patient safety to even more in the laboratory.