When you consider that a majority of diagnostic and treatment decisions are based in part on tests of one kind or another, it is easy to see the crucial role laboratory medicine plays in patient care in our hospitals.

In 2006/07, Toronto Medical Laboratories — a joint partnership of University Health Network and MDS Diagnostics—celebrated the completion of two ambitious projects designed to enhance patient care and broaden the reach of its services. A new Pathology Department became operational in 2006, and was followed by the opening of a new consolidated Core Laboratory (biochemistry and hematology) in April 2007. These laboratories feature the latest equipment, technologies, and people needed to meet the challenges of caring for patients with complex illnesses across Ontario.

Last year, TML/DL moved forward with its plan to bring digital imaging pathology (e-slide) to Northern Ontario hospitals. E-slide technology compresses digital images of tissue samples and distributes them using broadband networking and web-based streaming technology. Physicians in rural or community settings can call on the diagnostic expertise of UHN’s sub-specialty pathologists who review and interpret the slides using the computer as a “virtual” microscope.

Another highlight for TML in 2006-07 was the Transfusion Medicine Collaborative, which integrates the best clinical practices of the blood transfusion medicine programs of UHN, Sunnybrook Health Sciences, St. Michael's Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children.

TML is also home to the largest histocompatibility (tissue typing) laboratory in Canada, supporting transplantation programs that treat the highest volume and most complex cases at DL the Hospital for Sick Children and St. Michael’s Hospital. Last year, UHN recruited renal transplantation expert Dr. Kathryn Tinkham from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, New England to the position of Assistant Director of the Histocompatibility Laboratory. Dr. Tinkham is working with the UHN transplant teams and the Director of the lab, Dr. Neal denHollander, to plan and upgrade services.