New Lab Equipment will be the core of the chemistry section

By: Todd Hatlem, clinical educator

A year of hard work finally paid off December 13, when the Chemistry Section of the Laboratory went live with two new Beckman DXC600 analyzers. These two work horses are the core of the Chemistry section, and will perform literally millions of analyses over the expected life of the instruments. Due to their significant impact on patient care, staff spent months evaluating instruments and going to site visits from the various vendors to ensure the selected instruments would perform to the high expectations of the Laboratory and Medical Staff.

Enhanced features include additional test capability, quicker results, and new safety features. Problem troubleshooting can also be performed by computer modem access, preventing costly service calls.

It was important for staff to anticipate the future of the Laboratory when evaluating options during the selection process. Current expectations are for the instruments to have a seven-year life expectancy, and seven years from now the Laboratory might be a very different place. So we needed an instrument that would grow with us, and we believe these new analyzers will allow us to do just that. Thanks also go to Administration, who were actively involved, supportive, and committed to keeping the Chemistry instrumentation “state-of-the-art.”