The Park Plaza Hospital Pathology and Laboratory Department is guided by the values and vision contained in the hospital's mission statement: Our mission is to meet the health needs and expectations of the communities we serve. Pathology and laboratory services are fully accredited by the College of American Pathologists and the American Association of Blood Banks.

Our laboratories provide diagnostic, therapeutic and preventative clinical and anatomic services to a variety of patients including obstetrics, orthopedic, infectious disease, oncology and other medical specialties. Clinical services are also provided for the long term acute care needs of Plaza Specialty Hospital patients as well as for some physician office patients.

Advanced medical equipment is used in the laboratories to provide services in multiple disciplines including microbiology, chemistry, hematology, transfusion, anatomic pathology and information systems. Within the scope of these disciplines are several subspecialties including parasitology, mycology, mycobacteriology, bacteriology, serology, urinalysis, coagulation, therapeutic drug monitoring, drugs of abuse and special chemistry.

The laboratory information systems department maintains an in-depth database to support the broad scope of services and disciplines offered. This system supplies diagnostic, therapeutic and preventative clinical patient data to multiple users by way of the hospital information system as well as through a data communication system to the physician offices.

Clinical laboratory services are available seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.

Phlebotomy services for outpatients are also available twenty-four hours a day and do not require an appointment.

The Pathology Offices are on the second floor of the South building (713 527-5285). Routine hours of operation are Monday through Friday, from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm and Wednesday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (following the surgery schedule). The Anatomic Pathology Department provides services in surgical pathology including intra-operative consultation, with or without frozen section, cytopathology, and autopsy pathology. Late biopsy specimens must be in the department before 5:00 pm for next day processing. Friday specimens requiring processing for Saturday morning must be specifically requested. Bone marrow aspiration and biopsies can be requested through the Pathology Department secretary. They require ample notification, patient's consent, and an order for sedation, if desired. Autopsies are preformed only at the request of the attending physician and with proper family consent. The Department does not perform autopsies requested by the family. Arrangements for family requested autopsies can be made with a private autopsy service. A Pathologist is on call at all times (the hospital operator can page the On-Call Pathologist).