Upon approval, this action will result in an approximate annual salary and benefit cost of $1,872 for the hospital's Clinical Laboratory. The cost will be fully funded by Hospital Enterprise Fund I revenues.

The Clinical Laboratory is a unit of the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (CCRMC) and is responsible for providing hematology, chemistry, immunoassay, urinalysis, coagulation, blood bank, microbiology, and point-of-contact testing (POCT) services to CCRMC, including Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) and Quality Control duties. At present, the unit is managed by the Clinical Laboratory Manager and supported by three (3) supervising positions (two (2) Supervising Clinical Laboratory Scientists and one (1) Pathology Supervisor) who provide oversight for the day-to-day operations of the different sections of the laboratory and share LIS and Quality Control duties. Currently, the Pathology sector has only one Senior Cytotechnologist to perform all cytological testing.  
  
With the implementation of a new Quality Control Program, the planned replacement of the current Laboratory Information System (LIS), and the increasing demand for more testing, the Clinical Laboratory needs to add two (2) permanent management/supervisory positions: one (1) Assistant Clinical Laboratory Manager and one (1) Supervising Clinical Laboratory Scientist. Furthermore, the Pathology sector requires one (1) Cytotechnologist due to an increase in testing and with the recent acquisition of new molecular testing platforms that test for COVID-19.  
  
The Assistant Clinical Laboratory Manager will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the technical laboratory staff and serve as the primary lead for the new Quality Control Program, in accordance with Joint Commission recommendation. Together, with the Laboratory Manager, they will provide oversight to four (4) supervisors. The Supervising Clinical Laboratory Scientist will serve as the primary lead for LIS which includes creating new tests (e.g. Covid Antibody), maintaining test and quality control dictionaries, and overseeing any changes required with charge service functions (CPT coding, charge code creation, workload/utilization tracking, LOINC designation) for both Clinical Laboratory as well as the Pathology Department. The Supervising Clinical Laboratory Scientist will also oversee six (6) Senior Clinical Laboratory Scientists, nine (9) Clinical Laboratory Scientists, and seven (7) Laboratory Technicians. The Cytotechnologist will assist the Senior Cytotechnologist in performing cytological laboratory testing. With an increase in testing, the Pathology sector requires more staffing to meet the demand, as well as for staffing coverage for planned and unplanned absences so that testing is not impacted.  
  
The addition of these positions will result in enhancements to the Quality Control Program and Laboratory Information Systems, and overall laboratory service, leading to compliance and patient care improvements throughout the Clinical Laboratory.  

If not approved, the Clinical Laboratory will continue to be insufficiently staffed and struggle with the overwhelming work demand that is required of them.