Almost every ambulatory patient that comes to MSH is served by Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department (over 100,000 patients per year).  Almost every patient presenting to the Emergency Room receives laboratory tests provided by Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PLM).  The capacity of PLM to provide tests rapidly and of high quality facilitates the diagnostic processes in our Emergency Room. 

As well, PLM receives extensive referrals principally for cancer diagnostics, muscular skeletal disease, genetics and fetal neonatal diagnostics from across Ontario.  This is based on the high reputation of PLM and the specialized services we provide.  PLM is a reference centre for specialized cancer diagnostic testing and genetics testing, including HER2neu testing diagnostic that is important to assess therapy for breast cancer patients. 

2007 – 2008 Highlights

• Recruitment of Dr. Richard Kirsch, a gastrointestinal pathologist, who has a special interest in the pathology of colorectal cancer.

• Development of MOUNT SINAI SERVICES as an outreach vehicle for both Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Medical Microbiology to provide laboratory services for other hospitals and for Ontario’s growing medical/biotech research and innovation sector.

• For the past two years, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has been involved as a reference centre for breast cancer diagnostics for Newfoundland, responding to their request to help solve their technical diagnostic problems.

• As a result of current judicial investigations in Newfoundland, MSH has received continuing recognition in the national media as a reference Centre of Excellence in pathology.  Currently, MSH provides reference centre of pathology services in breast pathology for 12 centres within Ontario and for three major centres in other provinces.

• Advances in molecular genetics have led to the prospect of typing blood using molecular rather than conventional immunologic blood typing technology.  Dr. Greg Denomme, who has joint appointments with the Canadian Blood Services and with MSH, is a world pioneer in this field.  Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is working with the Canadian Blood Services to prototype molecular blood group genotyping as a procedure.  The eventual impact of this work will be better cross-matching, decreased blood utilization and greater blood safety.