April 4, 2008

PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORIES
RECOGNIZED DURING NATIONAL
MEDICAL LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS WEEK

In celebration of National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, April 20-26, 2008, Nassau County and the Department of Health commend the knowledgeable and dedicated professionals of our Health Department Laboratory who provide vital information to help keep Nassau healthy.

The Nassau County Division of Public Health Laboratories was established in 1949 in a room over a firehouse in Hempstead.  In the mid-1950s, the laboratory moved to its present site at 209 Main Street in Hempstead.  Now in its 59th year, the Health Department’s Laboratory continues to fulfill its mission to provide rapid and reliable information to the various divisions of the Health Department, other hospitals, agencies and health care providers to assist in protecting and preserving the health of county residents.

Using cutting edge methods not usually found in a traditional laboratory, such as mass spectroscopy, gas chromatography and molecular techniques, the laboratory’s professionals monitor water and soil for toxic chemicals and infectious organisms, assure that treated sewage discharged into our surrounding waters are clean, and assist the Department of Health in its efforts to contain HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, vaccine preventable viral diseases and enteric outbreaks from food.  The laboratory professionals also stand ready in the event of a local or national disaster such as a hurricane or an influenza pandemic.

To fulfill its mission, the laboratory staff remains up-to-date and competent on the latest technology and is prepared to rapidly institute new or little used methods to support public health responses to emerging pathogens and toxins.  The staff is available twenty-four hours a day in emergency situations to protect the public’s health.