Pershing General Hospital marked a quiet but meaningful milestone this week with the launch of its new microbiology services, a project years in the making that will dramatically improve turnaround times for lab results and expand the hospital’s ability to diagnose infections on-site.
The ribbon was cut Wednesday afternoon outside the PGH laboratory, where staff gathered to view the new equipment that now allows the hospital to process blood cultures, wound cultures and other key tests without having to ship samples out of town.
Until now, many culture tests — especially those drawn after hours or over the weekend — had to be sent to an outside lab, with results often taking two days or more to return. With the new system, PGH can produce results in as little as 13 hours, greatly improving care for emergency patients, long-term care residents and anyone whose treatment depends on timely answers.
“This has been a long road,” said Zack Pritchard, PGH laboratory manager, who inherited the project in 2023. “For years, if you drew a blood culture after 5 p.m. on a weekend, you wouldn’t get results back until at least two days later. Now we can identify infections here, faster, and make decisions without waiting on someone else’s schedule.”
The state approved the hospital’s validation and readiness on Oct. 28, clearing the way for the lab to officially go live this week.
PGH CEO Brandon Chadock noted that the effort goes back to around 2022, when outgoing leadership committed to building a microbiology service that could meet the needs of a rural critical-access hospital. The project moved through multiple hands as staff changed, but the goal remained the same: improve care close to home.
“We didn’t need bells and whistles,” Pritchard said. “We needed reliability. The whole purpose of this lab is to reduce wait times for our patients, so they don’t have to leave town or sit for days without answers.”
Chadock said the addition is part of a broader plan to strengthen PGH’s core services and keep more patients local.
“Time is on our side now,” he said. “If we can diagnose sooner, we can treat sooner, and that means better outcomes for patients and families.”
During the tour, Pritchard walked community members through two key pieces of equipment:
• A blood and wound culture analyzer, which grows and identifies bacteria.
• A MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) instrument, which determines which antibiotics will work against specific bacteria.
“These machines let us identify the bug,” Pritchard said. “Before, all of that was sent out. Now we’re doing it here.”
Some highly specialized cultures — such as long-term anaerobic cultures or rare organisms — will still be sent to outside labs, but staff said that represents a very small percentage of cases.
The microbiology launch is only Phase One. Pritchard’s next project is to expand PGH’s chemistry testing menu, adding higher-value tests such as vitamin D, B12, ferritin and iron panels. Validation work is underway with support from a partner lab in South Lyon County. Barring delays from state surveyors, he hopes to have the expanded chemistry service operational by June 30, the close of the fiscal year.
“It’s ambitious,” he said. “But doable.”
For PGH staff, the ribbon cutting wasn’t about fanfare. It was about function — and the message it sends about the hospital’s future.
“This is symbolic,” Chadock said. “Not just because it’s live today, but because it shows we’re building for the future.”
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