Oregon
Medical Laboratories and Northwest Regional Laboratory announce name change to
PeaceHealth Laboratories
Services
and commitment to communities continue unchanged
August 31,
2009
Springfield, Ore.
— Oregon Medical Laboratories (OML), Northwest Regional Laboratory (NWRL) and
the Ketchikan General Hospital laboratory today announced that their names will
change to PeaceHealth Laboratories beginning this week. The name change recognizes
the laboratories’ relationship to PeaceHealth, their parent company, and is the
next step in the unification that began last year of the three highly regarded
laboratories into one system.
“Although our name is changing, the people,
services and high standards of care we provide will remain the same,” says Ran
Whitehead, CEO of the laboratory system. “We represent laboratories in Oregon,
Washington and Alaska, and our new name will work well in all three states. We
are pleased to have our new name reflect our long-term relationship to
PeaceHealth and its mission of promoting personal and community health.
OML was
founded in 1986 as a partnership between PeaceHealth’s Sacred Heart Medical
Center in Eugene, Ore., and a group of local physicians. It became wholly owned
by PeaceHealth in 2000. The largest of the three organizations, it includes six
laboratory locations. Its Springfield, Ore., office serves as the headquarters
for the laboratory system.
NWRL in
Bellingham, Wash., has been part of PeaceHealth’s St. Joseph Hospital in
Bellingham, Wash., since 1989 when it was acquired as part of a merger with St.
Luke’s Hospital. Its main laboratory is at St. Joseph Hospital with a second
laboratory at PeaceHealth Medical Group, also in Bellingham.
PeaceHealth-owned
Ketchikan General Hospital opened in 1963 and serves the entire Southeast
Alaska region. The St. John Medical Center laboratory in Longview, Wash., will
join the laboratory system later this year and also adopt the new name.
The change
in name reflects the organizational structure already in place and does not
affect staffing levels, locations, services or community commitment.
About PeaceHealth Laboratories
PeaceHealth
Laboratories combines innovation and state-of-the-art technology
with outstanding service and value to provide medical diagnostic tests,
clinical laboratory consultation and drug testing services to health care
providers and individuals throughout the Pacific Northwest. With nine
laboratories and 22 patient service centers spanning Washington, Oregon and
Alaska, PeaceHealth Laboratories is one of the largest laboratory systems in
the region. It is designated as a Molecular Center of Excellence by Roche
Molecular Diagnostics. With headquarters in Springfield, Ore., it shares the PeaceHealth vision that
every patient will receive safe, evidence-based compassionate care; every time,
every touch. For more information about PeaceHealth Laboratories, visit www.peacehealthlabs.org.
Media
Contact:
Linda
Hawley, Manager
Marketing
& Communications
PeaceHealth
Laboratories
[email protected]
541.984.8225