Holiday and After Hours Schedule

During periods of limited staffing, a technologist will come to the lab to continue cultures in progress. Usually this includes the first closing day after a day of regular business hours and rarely is the lab unattended for more than one day (usually Sundays or holidays). The hours will be varied, depending on workload; however, mid-morning (e.g. 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.) is usually the best time to find a technologist on duty without prior arrangement.

During periods of limited staffing, the technologist on duty will:

  • enter appropriate preliminary and final reports on the hospital computer and fax to referral clinics
  • check and respond to messages left on the answering machine -- Lab Phone Number: (865)974-5639
  • set-up cultures on specimens left in the referral drop-off refrigerator or received by mail/courier service*

For In-house Patients

Lab technologists will set up cultures brought to them while they are present in the lab; however, at times when the lab is unattended, specimens may be placed in the drop-off refrigerator used for referral specimens (outside large animal pharmacy window). If a specimen requires immediate attention when the lab is not staffed contact the emergency student on call. Please submit a "Bacteriology after-hours request form" with all specimens given to an emergency student and note that this service will incur an emergency surcharge.

Specimens from the necropsy service must be submitted with a completed necropsy specimen portion of the "bacteriology after-hours request form" and require set-up by regular bacteriology staff. Call the technologist on duty (posted on door to the laboratory) if necropsy specimens cannot be held until the next working day.

For External Referral Patients

Specimens may be placed in the referral drop-off refrigerator mentioned above. Be sure that specimens are clearly identified and are not left on the counter at room temperature. All specimens will be processed when the refrigerator is next checked by lab staff (usually within 1 day).

For All Other Emergencies or Inquiries

Call Dr. Bemis or any of the lab staff members at the numbers listed on the door to the laboratory.

*Please note that during year-end university closings, even though we make special arrangements to pick up mail at the central post office, specimens sent through the mail may take longer than usual to reach us. We recommend using an overnight direct delivery service such as Fed Ex or UPS during this period.