Purpose:

To inform all healthcare providers and clinics that on Saturday, Sept. 8 through Monday, Sept. 10, contractors will replace the biological safety cabinets in the mycobacteriology laboratory. During construction, mycobacterial testing (acid fast bacilli (AFB) smear, cultures, M. tuberculosis NAAT) will not be performed for safety reasons.

Consequently, there will be a brief delay in results for those affected tests.

Effective dates: Sept. 8 - 10

Test order names:

• Acid fast bacilli (AFB), direct smear
• Culture, mycobacteria (AFB)
• Culture, mycobacteria, blood
• Mtb nucleic acid PCR

As a mitigation measure, respiratory specimens (sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage or washing) from patients with unknown AFB results will be sent to Quest Diagnostics.
We anticipate resuming normal operations on Sept. 11.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and appreciate your patience while we continuously work to improve our laboratory.

Sincerely,

Cassiana Bittencourt, MD
Director, Division of Clinical Microbiology

Edwin S. Monuki, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine