Hospital lab was hopping
Record number of tests completed in 2025
The laboratory services department at Campbellford Memorial Hospital completed a record number of tests last year, a new report says.
The number of samples collected -- 66,000 -- was comparable to 2024, but the total number of tests performed increased 2.5 per cent to 148,915 in 2025 from 145,383 in 2024. Outpatient demand also increased, with community lab requisitions rising from 9 per cent to 15,598 from 14,307.
“These gains were achieved without adding permanent laboratory staff,” said Peter Mitchell, the hospital’s Communications & Community Relations Manager.
The growth was helped by investments in new equipment and testing capabilities, Mitchell said. For example, the hospital now carries out some testing and analysis that had to be sent to Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
“These numbers really reflect both the volume and complexity of the work our team handles every day,” said Zoe Neilly, Laboratory Manager at Campbellford Memorial. “Behind every sample is a patient waiting for answers, and our staff are committed to delivering accurate, timely results that clinicians can rely on.”
The laboratory met or exceeded turnaround time targets for the vast majority of urgent and immediate testing, ensuring care teams received critical information quickly when it mattered most. The report says 92 per cent of urgent or stat (immediate) samples were collected within 30 minutes and turnaround time targets were met for 97 per cent of those samples.
In addition to routine testing, the laboratory made more than 3,300 critical result calls in 2025. These are direct, real-time communications to clinical teams when results indicated potentially life-threatening conditions.
“Critical result calls are some of the most important moments in our work,” Neilly added. “They require immediate action, clear communication, and absolute accuracy. Our team takes that responsibility very seriously.”
During 2025 the laboratory also introduced online booking for outpatient appointments.
In addition, the department did 330 blood transfusions and performed 334 Holter monitor tests that involve patients wearing a small device that tracks their heart rhythm for 24 hours to diagnose irregular heartbeats.
If you have recently used the lab for outpatient services the hospital would like you to complete a new 10-question patient satisfaction survey here.
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Impressive numbers! That 2.5% increase in tests without adding permanent staff is exactly the kind of operational efficiency healthcare systems need to scale. The fact that 92% of urgent samples got collected within 30 mins shows realy tight process managment. I worked in a clinc once where turnaround times were a constant battle, so this is legit progress worth celebrating.