Lab and Pathology

Bay Area Hospital’s laboratory is a hospital-based laboratory providing quality testing for the southern Oregon coast. We provide full-service diagnostic testing for inpatients and outpatients.

Bay Area Hospital’s laboratory provides numerous services, including:

Pathology -  This department processes tissues and biopsies to determine if there is a malignancy or other disease process going on. The pathologists (physicians) determine their findings using various techniques including microscopes, special stains, and genetic testing.

Cytology - The cytotechnologist uses microscopes and special stains to screen for malignancies and abnormalities, mainly from PAP smears, body fluids, and fine needle aspirates.

Microbiology - The microbiologists culture specimens from potential infection sites looking for bacterial, fungal, and/or viral infectious agents. Infectious bacteria can then be tested against different antibiotics to determine if they would be effective drugs to treat that infection.

Blood Bank - This department performs blood types on patients that may need to receive a transfusion due to blood loss or anemia. The technologist will then “crossmatch” the patient’s blood with donor blood to find compatible blood products for the transfusion. Our supply of donor blood comes from the American Red Cross who routinely hold blood drives in our community.

Hematology - This department performs complete blood counts (CBC) and differentials on blood and body fluids. The technologist uses automated analyzers and a microscope to perform this testing. CBC’s are one of the most common laboratory tests requested by physicians because the physician can get information such as the white blood count (WBC), red blood cell count/hemoglobin, and platelet count all at once.

Coagulation - Coagulation testing includes testing the blood to see if it clots in a normal time frame. Various drugs called “anticoagulants” are given to patients to prevent their blood from clotting as fast. Other disease processes can naturally cause the blood to take longer to clot. The most common coagulation test ordered is called the Protime/INR test.

Chemistry - This department uses automated analyzers to test for all kinds of metabolic chemicals, hormones, and drugs from plasma and serum. Some of the most common tests include: cholesterol, lipid panels, potassium, cardiac markers, pregnancy, thyroid, and drugs of abuse testing.

Professionals you can trust
Bay Area Hospital’s laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists. Our Medical Laboratory Scientists (MLS) are trained to perform, assess and report hematology, coagulation, blood bank, chemistry, urinalysis and microbiology tests. We are staffed with American Society for Clinical Pathologists (ASCP)-licensed cytotechnologists and three pathologists.

Keeping you healthy, every day
Our laboratory is staffed 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, to provide the best service possible.

Contact us!
(541) 269-8071