Medical Minute: Grateful Patient Family Makes Donation to Riverside Hospital Lab

Thanks to a recent philanthropic gift, the emergency team at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital is getting lab results faster and helping patients get answers sooner.

The donation, made by a grateful patient family, funded the purchase of the Tempus system. This tube transport technology quickly moves blood samples straight to lab analyzers. Riverside Methodist Hospital is only the second hospital in the country to implement the system, which has already made a major impact.

“Because it went right to the machine and to the technician that's in that area, it decreased turnaround time by 68%,” said Warren Yamarick, MD, medical director of Riverside’s emergency department. “When you have 87,000 people, a majority getting lab, this really improves our turnaround. Just one piece of the puzzle to get our patients more efficiently through the system.”

Riverside’s emergency department is one of the busiest in the region, treating some of the most complex and high-risk cases in the Midwest. Fast, accurate lab results are a critical part of the process, especially for patients experiencing bleeding, infections or strokes.

“You get the results back faster when a patient's waiting for their lab, waiting for an answer,” Dr. Yamarick said. “It just gives it that piece that we need. So it's very helpful to make a decision which way we're going to go.”

Simon Bisson, OhioHealth Foundation, vice president of Philanthropy, said gifts like these make a meaningful difference for patients and care teams alike.

“Any gift to the health system helps fuel innovation,” Bisson said. “It helps drive new technologies, new equipment, especially gifts from grateful patients and their families are especially meaningful to us.”

For those interested in supporting advancements in patient care, visit OhioHealth.com/Foundation to learn more.