The Work We Do: Lab Workers at Northwell Health’s Plainview Hospital

COVID-19 shines a light on the critical, behind-the-scenes role of laboratory workers in patient care. 1199SEIU represents laboratory workers at Northwell Health’s Plainview Hospital on Long Island’s North Shore. The 219-bed community hospital serves residents of Nassau County, which, by early February had a total of 130,933 COVID-19 cases. At Plainview, as at all hospitals, lab workers are integral in diagnosing and treating COVID- 19. The virus continues illuminate the role of so many unseen healthcare heroes and the critical role in healing the sick and moving the nation past the pandemic.

1. Michelle Rhem has been a Lab Processor at Plainview for 24 years. Her work helps keep the lab organized and running smoothly. She gets to work at 4:30 a.m. every day to manage orders, designate where specimens go, separate blood and urine samples, and ensure that staff, such as phlebotomists, are scheduled where they are needed to perform tests. “I know both sides of the lab coin,” Rhem says.

4. Feri Mehryari has been a Clinical Laboratory Scientist at Northwell Health’s Plainview Hospital since 1986. Since childhood, Mehryari has had a love of science that led her to the lab. In addition to the intellectual work of lab science, emotional sensitivity is necessary, says Mehryari. “My character [since a young age] has always been to help others and care for others,” she says. “I knew I wanted to be in the medical field, and in high school, I just loved the discovery part of lab science as well as the caring part.” She also emphasizes that the field’s educational rigor is often unappreciated. “We are required to have earned a BS degree, pass board exams, and maintain our licensure. There is a lot that goes into what we do.”

2. Laboratory Phlebotimist Fadil Pejcinovic has worked at Plainvew for 15 years. Before Plainview, he was a medical professional in his home country of Montenegro in the former Yugoslavia.

5. Laboratory Technologist Elaina Acero is a “new kid on the block” at Plainview, but she has over three decades of hospital lab experience. Her journey began in a college nursing program, where she decided that nursing wasn’t necessarily her calling. Acero says the analytical work of the laboratory was a better fit, and it still allows her to care for patients in her own way. “I love helping people. It is my number one priority. Even though I don’t see patients, I know I am able to make a difference in their lives,” she says. “Doctors rely on us for results, and without us, doctors and nurses would not be able to take proper care of their patients.”

3. Blood Bank Technologist Mary Jay has been at Plainview for over 20 years. She is a leading delegate and dedicated voice for lab members at the hospital.

- 1199 Magazine | January / February 2021