The St. Joseph's/Candler Health System, Inc. ("SJ/C") Laboratories are clinical laboratories dedicated to providing the highest quality of services to our community, patients, and providers. The SJ/C Laboratories participate in the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Laboratory Accreditation Program and have Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certifications through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The SJ/C Laboratories are full-service laboratories offering diagnostic services, pathology services, and outreach reference laboratory services.
Any questions regarding Laboratory services and testing may be directed to our Client Services Department at (912) 819-8440 option 3 or contact us by e-mail.
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Laboratory Update(s)
Nation-wide Disruption of Microbiology Media (Requires Immediate Attention)
The purpose of this communication is to provide attention to a serious supply issue regarding routine bacteriology cultures. This issue has affected all media manufacturers worldwide and is expected to result in limited to no supply until November 2026. The ongoing worldwide shortage is due to limited availability of sheep blood, a key component used in one of our primary plated media. As a result, the request for routine bacteriology cultures needs to be limited as much as possible.
To ensure this product is available for critical applications the following will be implemented:
1. Outpatient urines submitted for a Urinalysis and Urine Culture separately will be ordered as UAREFLEXUC. This will eliminate the culturing of suboptimal/contaminated specimens and screen-negative UA's. Please note interfaced orders will be changed to the UAREFLEXUC.
2. For cultures reported as multiple colony types, there will no longer be an option of requesting workups. (This is standard guidelines from the American Society of Microbiology.)
3. Physicians should limit the number of cultures submitted on the same patient - i.e., left finger superficial, left finger deep, etc. Individual swab collections with similar sources will be combined and processed as a single culture.
With depletion of media, culture results will require disclaimers.
PLEASE NOTE: Reference laboratories are also affected.
New Pap Test Imaging Technology
The St. Joseph’s/Candler Laboratory is pleased to announce new technology, the Hologic ThinPrep® Imaging System, that uses computer imaging to assist in primary cervical cancer screening of ThinPrep® Pap test slides for the presence of atypical cells, cervical neoplasia, including its precursor lesions (Low Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions, High Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions), and carcinoma as well as other cytologic abnormalities.
Effective 09/28/2026, the test will be reported using the new technology but there are no ordering changes at this time.
Advanced Tests Supporting Diagnosis of Autoimmune Diseases
St. Joseph’s/Candler is pleased to announce that, beginning June 15, 2026, it will begin offering patients advanced tests supporting the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases supplied by Thermo Fisher Scientific.
EliA™ tests provide clinically relevant, accurate information to help healthcare providers make more informed treatment decisions. The test portfolio helps support the diagnosis of the most frequent systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases, including connective tissue diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, antiphospholipid syndrome, vasculitis and Goodpasture syndrome, celiac disease, autoimmune liver diseases, and autoimmune thyroid diseases.
The fully automated Thermo Fisher Scientific Phadia 250 platform, using a solid-phase fluorescence enzyme immunoassay (FEIA) method, allows for improved turnaround time for test results and a more comprehensive profile for faster and more accurate diagnosis of various autoimmune disease states.
Automated enzyme immunoassays (EIA) have become more widely used in recent years as they offer a comparable degree of sensitivity and a significantly higher specificity, specifically when compared to indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) in connective tissue disease testing. The implementation of an automated EIA platform will considerably reduce the number of false positives currently seen with IFA testing.
All assays will now be reported quantitatively with the qualitative interpretation outlined in each individual component result comment. Quantification will allow for patient monitoring throughout the clinical course of their condition.
Testing will continue to be performed on serum samples. Batch testing will be performed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The table included with this notification will provide the new test codes that will become available for ordering beginning on June 15, 2026. Additionally, order sets will be updated upon implementation.
St. Joseph’s/Candler continually assess our testing volumes to find ways that we can optimize our testing menu in an effort to better serve you and your patients. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the laboratory at 912-819-8440, option 3.
Change in Courier Service Management
SJ/C is pleased to announce a new partnership with BioTouch/Lab Logistics. Effective Monday 4/27/2026, Lab Logistics will manage courier pickups. This transition will assist SJ/C to better monitor transportation from point of collection to delivery. Lab Logistics will help SJ/C's ability to track your deliveries in real-time, increasing efficiencies in pickups.
Couriers from Lab Logistics will be doing "dry runs" of our routes several days the week of 04/20/2026, to ensure they are familiar with and can find your office. They will bring a copy of this letter when they stop in to introduce themselves.
We are confident that this partnership will enhance the level of service you have come to expect from St. Joseph's/Candler. To schedule an on-demand pickup, please continue to call 912.819.8440, option 1. Please contact us at 912.819.8440, option 3 if you have any questions or concerns.
