FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2004
CONTACT: Joyce Faria Brennan
Media Relations
Southcoast Health System
Phone: 508-961-5270
Fax: 508-961-5876
Pgr: 508-387-9605
brennanj@southcoast.org
www.southcoast.org/news/releases/
Southcoast Hospitals opens region’s first molecular diagnostics lab
“The new lab at St. Luke’s Hospital will provide the people of the South Coast region with
the highest caliber of diagnostic technology offered in a very few cities across the country —
now offered right here in New Bedford,”
— David E. Ziemba, MD
Chief Pathologist & Medical Director
St. Luke’s & Tobey hospitals laboratories
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Southcoast Hospitals Group will open the region’s first
Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at St. Luke’s Hospital on June 5, bringing sophisticated
genetic material analysis to the community hospital setting and shortening the time between
testing, diagnosis and treatment for area physicians and their patients.
“Having the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at the St. Luke’s site provides quicker
turn-around time for results, enabling the physician to direct the course of treatment and
monitor the patient’s response to treatment quickly and more efficiently,” said David E.
Ziemba, MD, Chief Pathologist and Medical Director of the laboratories at St. Luke’s and
Tobey hospitals.
Currently many non-teaching hospitals across the country must transport tissue and
blood samples to a distant reference lab, sometimes taking more than a week for results. In
Massachusetts, the only community-based molecular diagnostics laboratory is located in the
Berkshires, making this a first for Southeastern Massachusetts and one of the few community
hospitals to house such advanced technology.
The lab will begin by instituting three primary tests for HIV, Hepatitis C and HPV
(human papilloma virus), expanding this fall to include more intricate DNA testing that is
vital in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients, Dr. Ziemba said.
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Southcoast Hospitals New Molecular Diagnostics Lab
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June 3, 2004
Advanced clinical sleuthing
“As studies at leading cancer institutes link the importance of identifying the DNA
makeup of the cancer cell to how responsive the treatment will be, Southcoast recognized the
importance of assisting our physicians by bringing tests of high technical quality into our
local community setting,” said Paula Baptista, Technical Manager for Southcoast Hospitals
Group’s Laboratories at Southcoast Hospitals Group.
Early this year the St. Luke’s site of Southcoast Hospitals laboratory began
performing specialized testing, called immunohistochemical antibody testing, that is vitally
important for diagnosing breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer and metastases. This
new molecular lab expands the diagnostic element of testing and includes a more in-depth
analysis for determining the type of treatment and the response to that treatment by analyzing
the cancerous cells’ genetic markers. This is referred to as DNA and RNA testing.
Surgical oncologist Robert Greene, MD, said that having the new laboratory at St.
Luke’s will be “enormously valuable.” “This [new lab] will be one more step in improving
our ability to diagnose cancer more quickly and accurately,” Dr. Greene said.
“Tests that will be performed in our new lab will help us quickly confirm the
effectiveness of a patient’s medication regimen,” Dr. Ziemba said. “By performing these
tests right here, the patient’s results can be expedited in half the time.”
The next level of testing slated for this fall will also be instrumental in the cancer
diagnosis and the effectiveness of treatment. It uses “FISH technologies” (Florescent in SITU
Hybridization), which are only offered at select reference labs and teaching hospitals across
the country. The technology is similar to that used at forensic crime labs.
-more-
Southcoast Hospitals New Molecular Diagnostics Lab
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June 3, 2004
“This is a little ‘CSI,’ but instead of looking for a murderer we are looking for a
disease. Both different, but just as deadly,” Baptista said, referring to the several Crime Scene
Investigators television series on CBS.
FISH testing identifies abnormalities that occur in many tumors using florescenttagged DNA. This testing is essential in the detection of recurrent bladder cancer and
monitoring therapy of breast cancer treatment in women as well as many other types of
cancer.
“The new Southcoast Molecular Diagnostic Lab will provide the people of the South
Coast region with the highest caliber of diagnostic technology offered in a very few cities
across the country,” Dr. Ziemba said.
The Molecular Diagnostic Lab will support Southcoast’s three hospitals as well as
Southcoast Health System’s ancillary locations such as the Center for Women’s Health at
Faunce Corner and The Oncology Center in North Dartmouth.
Southcoast Labs are best performers
Earlier this year, The College of American Pathologists (CAP) awarded the
laboratories at St. Luke’s and Tobey hospitals with its 2003 Best Performer Awards.
CAP conducts quality surveys comparing performance and methodology several
times per year at hospital laboratories throughout the country. CAP's Laboratory
Accreditation Program is widely recognized as the “gold standard” and has served as a model
for various federal, state and private laboratory accreditation programs throughout the world.
The awards for the St. Luke’s and Tobey Laboratories were in the areas of quality and
efficiency for microbiology, phlebotomy and hematology. St. Luke’s earned a best performer
in “Satisfaction with Outpatient Specimen Collection” for the fourth consecutive year.
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Southcoast Hospitals New Molecular Diagnostics Lab
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June 3, 2004
Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community
based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of
health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It
includes Southcoast Hospitals Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial
Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast is one of three community hospitals approved by the Massachusetts
Department of Public Health to perform open heart surgery and elective coronary
angioplasty. For more information visit www.southcoast.org.
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