New transition for the city’s health department lab

A new transition for the El Paso Public Health Department is set to improve testing results and everyday processes for the laboratory.

The entire lab is now located under one roof at 4504 Alberta Avenue, behind University Medical Center.

For years, departments of the lab were located in downtown El Paso and at the County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Now all functions including potable water testing, influenza testing, and food outbreak testing is taking place in one location. The lab also conducts testing for the Zika virus, Chikungunya and dengue.

Lab manager, Chirs Olivas, told ABC-7 the time it takes to transport testing samples is down to minutes and as a result, it helps prevent rejected samples.

Olivas said transports used to take up to two hours.

“By having everyone housed under one roof, myself and my supervisor, are able to monitor staff and ensure that not only are we meeting regulatory requirements, but that we are preforming tests appropriately,” Olivas said.

The lab is also a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Biothreat Response Network, which consists of microbiologists, medical scientists, and administrative personnel that all work in the lab.

“If we have any terroristic events or bioterroism related events, we have equipment that we purchased six months ago that we can use for testing,” Olivas said.

This weeks marks Medical Laboratory Professionals Wee, a time for Olivas and the department to increase public understanding and appreciation for clinical laboratory personnel.

Olivas said that the University of Texas at El Paso offers a clinical lab sciences program that helps students prepare them to work in a lab like the one for the city’s health department.

“The outlook for growth in this field is good,” said Olivas

He added that he has not heard concerns from the hospitals in the area about not finding properly trained individuals.