University Medical Center

Their open til 3. It’s less crowded the later you go. I walked in around 1:30 and it took maybe 20 mins before I was done.
In and out, just how I like it.

To begin, I have a moderate to severe phobia of needles and blood in general. However, due to my job, I am required to have my lead levels tested occasionally to ensure that I’m not exposed to dangerous amounts of lead. That having been said, when I walked into the office to sign in for my appointment, I was not greeted in a friendly or courteous manner. This is only the beginning of what I consider a horrible experience at this lab. When I was called into my examination room, my eyes started to tear. It is very painful to experience syncope (fainting) and truth be told I was a little afraid of it happening, as it does nearly every time I have my blood drawn. I even brought a friend with me to have my blood drawn to ensure that if I was in a weakened state everything will roll smoothly. When the phlebotomist came into the examination room to draw my blood, she rather briskly instructed me to sit in the chair. When she saw that I was crying, she told me, «Why are you crying? You need to stop.» When she brought out the needle, I will admit I started to sob. As a grown adult, I understand full well that this is not the appropriate response to having your blood drawn. However it is severely deeply rooted inside of me that needles and blood cause pain and I am terrified of them, legitimately. Rather than being compassionate and understanding, she told me, «Stop crying! You’re only making it worse!» My experience was not fun, it was in no way comfortable for someone who has a severe fear of blood, and I can only hope that this was an isolated incident. I truly hope that the office staff at this laboratory are properly trained on compassion with human patients. There is not a single redeeming quality to this lab that will make me return, or recommend it to anyone of my friends or family.

This building is where you come to have lab work done (Quest Diagnostics). Scheduling an appointment online is definitely advisable because there is generally a long wait. You can just walk in but people that have appointments will go ahead of you. In general, once you get in it goes pretty quick, at least that’s the experience my mom has had and I just wait in the waiting room for her to finish.