Amy Tomaz is a Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA) with the Brant Community Healthcare System (BCHS), a position she has held since 2013. MLAs play a critical role in supporting patients in hospital and those arriving through the Emergency Department (ED). Amy explains, “We take blood and complete electrocardiograms on patients in the Emergency Department and the samples we collect assist in medical diagnosis and care. Our timely collection and resulting on these samples plays an important part in assisting with the flow and discharge of patients in the ED.”
Amy continues, “The Laboratory at the BCHS is an extremely important and necessary resource for the ED. The lab is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and provides reliable, efficient and timely results to support physicians making life-saving decisions.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Laboratory Systems, 70% of medical decisions depend on laboratory results. The Laboratory at the BCHS is accredited by Accreditation Canada and licensed by the Ministry of Health.
The Laboratory at BCHS is also a referral laboratory for Haldimand-Norfolk and the West Haldimand General Hospital and in total processes an average of 2.5 million tests per year. “The Lab is a very busy place to work and I am proud to be part of a team that has pulled together in these difficult past few years to provide BCHS patients and our community with the best care possible. In the Lab, we all work together with the common goal of ‘patient first care’”.
One year ago, Amy was part of a BCHS team tasked to integrate MLA coverage directly in the Emergency Department triage area. “This additional support has really been instrumental in expediting patients by collecting bloodwork and performing their ECG while patients are waiting to be seen by a physician. This process helps with reducing wait times and length of stay” says Amy.
Providing the very best patient care is important to Amy and she does this not only through her work as an MLA, but also through her support of the Brant Community Healthcare System Foundation as a personal donor. At the height of the pandemic, Amy contacted the Foundation about a creative way to give back and generate funds through the sale of her beautiful hand-crafted wooden hearts made from recycled tobacco kiln slats.
“I know that the Foundation greatly assists the hospital with purchasing important patient equipment that is not funded by the Ministry of Health. I choose to donate to the Foundation because this hospital is an integral part of our community” says Amy.
The Brant Community Healthcare System Foundation would like to sincerely thank all of the staff who support laboratory services at the BCHS every day. We are sincerely appreciative of our hospital family donors, like Amy, who give generously to transform our local healthcare system. Thank you!
