member spotlight
The laboratory also works closely with
many programs in Oregon’s Public
Health Division, including epidemiology,
sexually transmitted diseases, emergency
preparedness and environmental
programs. Oregon is one of 10 CDC EIP
states, which, along with ELC funding,
keeps the laboratory busy providing
new and ongoing testing services. In
addition, Virology/Immunology and
General Microbiology perform Select
Agent testing for the Laboratory Response
Network for Biological Terrorism.
All in a day’s work: The Illumina MiSeq is in good hands with
microbiologists Michael Bitzer, Veronica Williams and Kristie
Ryder. Photo: OSPHL
infants. It has four major sections:
General Microbiology, Virology/
Immunology, NBS and Operations:
Success Stories
• Operations provides support services
for testing as well as building systems
infrastructure. This includes specimen
receiving, CD and NBS data entry,
safety, facilities management, security,
result reporting, laboratory information
management systems (LIMS)
administration, coordination of the
statewide courier system, purchasing,
reception services, mail processing, and
Category A and B infectious shipping.
• As the analytical hub of the Northwest
Regional Newborn Screening Program,
the NBS section receives specimens
from infants born in Oregon, as well
as Alaska, Idaho, New Mexico, Hawaii,
Guam, Saipan and the Navajo Nation.
In 2016, OSPHL screened more than
234,000 infant bloodspot specimens
for 31 conditions on the federal
Recommended Uniform Screening
Panel, and is gearing up for screening
Lysosomal Storage Disorders next year.
• Virology/Immunology performs about
200,000 tests annually on 120,000
specimens. Target analytes include
sexually transmitted pathogens
as well as those responsible for
influenza, Zika, MERS, norovirus,
astrovirus and rotavirus.
• General Microbiology tests enteric
pathogens, EIP pathogens, B. pertussis,
CRE and tuberculosis. In addition, this
program tests retail meats for FDA
NARMS for select enteric pathogens,
such as Salmonella spp., Enterococcus
spp. and Shiga toxin-producing E.
coli (STEC), using PFGE and whole
genome sequencing (WGS).
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
• Filling vacant positions. “One of my
first challenges was to staff up. And
we did, with help from the Public
Health Division, while keeping within
our position limits. We’ve hired
many staff who are relatively young
and love being in public health.”
• Attaining CDC certification for
submitting WGS data for Listeria
monocytogenes, E. coli O157 and other
STEC, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp.
and Campylobacter spp. And hiring a
bioinformatics intern from Oregon
Health & Science University for
much-needed technical support.
• Achieving 90% recovery of
laboratory testing fees—“a dramatic
improvement in the last two years.”
• Accrediting cannabis testing
laboratories using the most
rigorous standards in the nation
to ensure the safety of any
product being sold in Oregon.
• Through a state public health
modernization effort to improve the
health of all Oregonians (HB3110),
OSPHL has focused on laboratory
process improvements; streamlining
workflows within and between
sections; building testing efficiencies;
and enhancing electronic data
exchanges with clients. A program
analyst has been hired to work on
laboratory-wide process improvement,
including a true cost-analysis of
laboratory services—studies of how
long it takes and how many resources
are used for each test the laboratory
APHL.org
performs. “This will help us know
how much it really costs to do our
work and change our processes
so we can keep above water.”
• Achieving electronic data exchange
for about 60% of the lab’s General
Microbiology and Virology/
Immunology specimens.
• Installation of new servers, roof and
generator, and implementation of
remote temperature monitoring.
Challenges
• Keeping up with new technologies,
such as WGS, without the
resources of laboratories with
a large research budget.
• Dealing with the widespread
clinical use of culture-independent
diagnostic tests. “We bear the
burden of isolating bacteria from
specimens that test positive, and
timing is critical to recover the
isolates for outbreak investigations.”
• Harmonizing electronic data exchange
between the laboratory and its
customers. Currently, the public
health laboratory uses two LIMS:
one for CD testing and the other
for NBS. “We have to integrate all
this data,” said Fontana. “We’re also
trying to get more electronic data
exchange with our clients. Most of the
connections we have are virtual private
networks. We’d like to use the Health
Information Exchange standard—it
saves everybody a lot of time.”
• Getting new positions approved
for needed staff as the laboratory
evolves. As technologies have
advanced, client services and
LIMS support staff have taken on
additional roles and responsibilities
to meet changing business needs.
In addition, bioinformatics support
will be an ongoing need due to the
increasing complexity of the data. n
Winter 2018 LAB MATTERS
29