Today, Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) introduced the Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2024, which would add medical laboratory professionals to the National Health Service Corps and provide grants to accredited institutions to train more clinical lab staff. This legislation will support patients by helping to address the current national shortage of clinical lab professionals.

 

Currently, about 70% of medical decisions and recommendations made by doctors are based on the diagnostic work of medical laboratory personnel such as clinicians, phlebotomists, and lab technicians. However, our nation’s clinical labs often have vacancy rates of up to 25%. These staffing challenges cause delays in healthcare delivery and contribute to burnout for lab professionals. By adding medical laboratory workers to the National Health Service Corps, this bill will provide incentives for training, recruitment, and retention of clinical lab professionals that already exist for other allied health professions. In addition, the bill will provide grants to accredited colleges and universities to train more clinical lab staff.

 

“Clinical lab professionals played a critical role during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they continue to serve a variety of indispensable public health functions, including opioid screenings, fentanyl testing, drug testing in social service settings, criminal forensics, and much more,” said Congresswoman Ross. “By increasing support for training, recruitment, and retention of clinical lab professionals, this legislation will create more high-skilled, good-paying jobs for American workers. In addition, this bill will strengthen our health care system by reducing diagnostic wait times, enhancing preventative care, and minimizing the likelihood of diagnostic errors. The Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act represents a needed investment in our public health and our invaluable laboratory workforce.” 

 

The full text of the bill is available here.

 

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