St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory
Fast-Tracking Medical Diagnostics

The U.S. Virgin Islands is home to over 100,000 people. Although the island is committed to providing its residents with advanced healthcare, it has long depended on the U.S. for diagnostic services. The lack of premium-quality diagnostic centers often leads to delayed diagnosis and inaccurate results.

Understanding the complexity of this situation, eight years ago, St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory was set up with the most advanced technologies in the clinical laboratory field, relieving the Virgin Islands from its dependency on the U.S. The lab has received the College of American Pathologists (CAP) certification due to its unwavering commitment to providing prompt and excellent laboratory services without compromising on the quality aspect.

The reference clinical lab offers a variety of tests, including DNA, hematology, molecular chemistry, and parasitology, while ensuring accurate test results and aiding medical practitioners with furnishing information invaluable in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.

“We are committed to delivering top-notch technology and services to our clients and doctors. With the most cutting-edge technology at our disposal, we perform tests and deliver results quickly,” says Carlos Gonzalez, CEO and scientist, St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory. “We are continuously pushing ourselves to expand our services by adding new tests using existing pieces of equipment.”

Meeting Unmet Needs

St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory is recognized for its ability to deliver accurate results in less than 24 hours. Its commitment to the community is further demonstrated through the establishment of three other facilities, allowing patients to access its services quicker.

To facilitate the result retrieval from any place of interest, it has implemented a cutting-edge system where each equipment is connected to a central information system. This allows for a seamless compilation of patient databases and stores diagnostic test results, making them readily available to doctors.

Using a bidirectional interface, St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory facilitates the efficient transfer of patient information, analysis orders, and results to and from clinics, laboratories, and land registries. This allows test results to be shared via emails to doctors and patients for easy access. It also routes samples of individual patients using unique bar codes to avoid any confusion or misplacement of data.

Patients who walk into St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory are handled by trained personnel who ensure a comfortable experience. For more complex tests that this lab still does not have the bandwidth to deal with, the samples are sent to the parent facility, Puerto Rico Clinical Reference Laboratory. It works 24/7 and is equipped with cutting-edge technology to process the samples without any downtime and quickly deliver results.

A Better Understanding of State-of-the-Art Facilities

All in-house tests are expedited with equipment like VersaCell systems for intelligent sample processing, enabling St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory to process over 20,000 tests a day. The equipment can test 50 sample tubes simultaneously with multiple processing options. It helps provide results for critical diagnosis and meet short turnaround times.

St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory goes beyond regular diagnostic tests by providing advanced testing services such as allergy panels, tests for STDs, and Group B Strep tests in Pregnancy. It has also employed fourth-generation tests that accurately and rapidly diagnose diseases by detecting antigens and antibodies. Hosting these tests in-house helps curtail costs on sample transportation as well as results in reducing insurance payable for patients.

“We are the only lab in this region to focus on parasitology and microbiology,” says Gonzalez.

St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory is the only Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and FDA-approved laboratory in the Caribbean. All medical instruments used in its facility are certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology.

Through its extensive knowledge and advanced automated equipment, St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory delivers top-notch diagnostic services to hospitals and clinics in the Virgin Islands, promoting quality healthcare services to its residents.

Its commitment to maintaining high standards in methodology, equipment, and processes is proved through its cleared inspection with zero inaccuracy. In this commitment to serve the community widely, St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory is on the journey of establishing two new facilities at St. Croix and St. John. The lab is also upping its ante by expanding testing capabilities to include a broad range of tests like sperm counting, molecular chlamydia, gonorrhea, dengue, and zika.

St. Thomas Clinical Reference Laboratory's dedication to providing high-quality healthcare resources has assisted it in achieving its mission of being one of the prime clinical laboratories in USVI as well as in satisfying market demands and providing quality and excellent services.