-----Original Message-----
From: Hagerty, Marjorie A. 
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 1999 11:50 AM
To: 'johnsom@shmc.org'
Subject: RE: Workload of blocks and slides


Hi Mickie,

We have 5 FTE HT's, 2 FTE Lab Assistants, 1 PA and a histology/transcription
supervisor. The supervisor,(myself),fills-in in dire circumstances, but is
pretty much off the bench most of the time. 

We did 11,500 surgicals in 1998. Our staff is spread over 6 days, with the
Friday surgeries being split between Saturday and Monday processing. For a 6
day week we average around 140 blocks, 250 H&Es, 6 frozen section cases of
varying numbers of blocks, 17 special stains, and 5 immunos per day. 

Except when someone is on vacation and an unexpected absence occurs, we feel
that we have time to get the work out and maintain very high quality. There
seems to be time to be organized and get everything done for the day that
needs to be done. There is very little overtime except when out of our
control, ie.a pathologist does not get in to gross until very late or there
are emergency leukemia stains. In my opinion we are adequately staffed but
not padded. I know that many histo labs are not adequately staffed.

I don't know whether you are including a supervisor or not, which could make
a big difference. And of course, comparing one lab to another can be an
apple/orange situation. If our work situations are similar, and I have a
feeling they are, what I see from the numbers is that you have substantially
more than twice our workload but no where near twice the FTEs. 

Don't know exactly what this means, but thought I would respond anyway!

Marg
Eisenhower Medical Center
Rancho Mirage, California


-----Original Message-----
From: johnsom@shmc.org [mailto:johnsom@shmc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 1999 8:30 AM
To: 'HistoNet Server'
Subject: Workload of blocks and slides


Hi Histonetters,
I would appreciate any input any of you could provide about staffing and WL.
We have 6 FTE HT's, and 3.5 FTE Lab Assistants and 2 PA's who handle 29000
surgical cases per year with a daily average of 360 paraffin blocks and 778
H&E slides plus special stains and 2-3 IHC runs on a Dako stainer.  We feel
understaffed and need statistics to justify more personnel, especially HT's.
Any input any of you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Mickie

Michael L. Johnson, HT/HTL(ASCP)
Histology Supervisor
Sacred Heart Medical Center
W. 101 8th Avenue
Spokane, Washington 99220
(509) 626-4418
FAX (509) 455-2052
johnsom@shmc.org