Cancer Care Ontario Recognizes Pathology as a Top Performer

Cancer Care Ontario has recognized Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) for being a top performer in the province for turnaround time in reporting related to post-surgical pathology investigations for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Between April 2018 and March 2019, MAHC’s laboratory exceeded the provincial target of completing post-surgical reports within 14 days, and achieved the lowest turnaround times in the province, which means the results of cancer-related biopsies are getting to patients sooner.

“Because of the dedication of our histology staff in specimen processing and steadfast commitment of our pathologist, we are reporting the results of these investigations to physicians in less than five days, well below the 14-day provincial target,” says CEO Natalie Bubela.

The pathology department of the laboratory is based at the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital Site and is responsible for processing and examining tissue specimens generated from surgeries performed at MAHC. In 2019, the pathology department processed 6,250 surgical cases, which resulted in 24,000 individual tissue samples for analysis.

The addition of new and updated equipment for processing tissue samples, funded by the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation, has helped the lab maintain high standards of care.

“Health care is always a team effort and I am so proud of our pathologist, the lab technologists, technicians and transcriptionists who all play a role in the timely completion of these post-surgical reports,” says Bubela. “Congratulations to our pathology department for this incredible achievement and their commitment to improving the quality of cancer care services.”