Bartlett Regional | House Calls | Winter 2019

Microbiologist Leanne Griffin could do without the “senior” part of her title: Senior Clinical Laboratory Scientist. But she’s earned it. Also known as “Mom” to a tight-knit group of clinicians, Leanne has worked in the lab for the past 38 years. “Leanne has been instrumental to our growth, and we are lucky to have her still guiding us down a true path,” says John Fortin, Bartlett Regional Hospital’s Lab Manager. Science nerd Leanne grew up in Sitka. After taking advanced biology in high school and working at the hospital lab, she got a college degree in bacteriology and public health. She recalls the top three jobs for women in health care in the 1970s—nursing, pharmacy or lab. As a self-described science nerd, Leanne was too introverted for nursing and not as interested in pharmacy. She began her lab career in the big city—at Seattle Children’s Hospital. In 1980 she returned to Southeast Alaska to take a job in the microbiology section of Bartlett’s lab. Leanne analyzes “anything that comes from people,” including blood, feces and sputum, for things like bacteria, viruses and parasites. “All the fun stuff, in my opinion,” she jests. When she’s not looking at the real thing, Leanne keeps sharp by making a game of identifying the organism in proficiency unknowns based solely on the test patient’s diagnosis description. Thus far in her career, most of her guesses are right. Identifying scores of bacteria on culture plates by sight can seem daunting but becomes old hat with decades of practice. “Well, if you had 12 children, you would know every single one of them,” she quips. Advances keep it exciting But what keeps her working is “all the cool new stuff” due to advancements in medicine and technology. “That's why when people ask, ‘Why are you still working when you're 66 years old?’ I say, ‘Because it's just getting exciting.’ I've reached something I really want to Quality control Back at the analyzer, Kelsey is running one of two daily tests for quality control. If the machine posts unusually high results for a specific enzyme, for example, the result can be a misdiagnosed patient. “We run a series of range verifications and calibrations to make sure that the analyzers are functioning as they should be and that the values we are putting out are accurate,” says Kelsey. Hematology Next door, Jeanne Frickey, the lead hematologist, is sorting out tubes of blood and urine. The lab also houses Bartlett Regional Hospital’s blood bank. Lloyd Pontines is its supervisor. “He ensures that we’re doing good documentation and takes care of the entire blood bank process for Bartlett and Juneau,” notes Laboratory Manager John Fortin. Pontines closely monitors the temperature of a refrigerator housing units of blood and a freezer filled with plasma for trauma patients. Bartlett receives a fresh shipment of blood every three weeks. At that point, whatever is left is expired and returned. Patient needs for the blood vary. Summer visitors bring up demand. Lloyd Pontines, Lab Blood Bank Supervisor, receives blood shipments and monitors demand. Jeanne Frickey, Lead Hematologist, on the job. Meet the microbiologist 8 House Calls Winter 2019 —Continued from page 7