The medical laboratory is a critical link in the practice of medicine in the 21st century. For Natchez-area patients, the presence of a private, family-owned lab for more than three decades has played a role in the diagnosis and treatment of many thousands of patients.

The pathologists, microbiologists, chemists and skilled technicians at Natchez Pathology Lab have provided data daily to doctors since the business opened in 1967 under the direction of two pathologists.

When the late physician Dr. David Steckler joined the lab in 1970, the business began to grow. &uot;I’ve been here for 38 years,&uot; said Bill Lambert, cytologist and lab manager. &uot;We have gone from three employees then to about 20 now.&uot;

Keeping pace with the technological advances in medical lab work has been a challenge through the years, Lambert said. Today the business looks toward April 26, when new machines will be on line and the latest technology in place for Natchez patients.

&uot;This is the same program Mayo Clinic uses,&uot; Lambert said. &uot;We’re really stepping into the high-tech world.&uot;

New programs will allow doctors to get lab results on their patients at any time of the day or any day of the week. &uot;The computers will allow us to share information with the doctors 24 hours a day and seven days a week,&uot; Lambert said. &uot;Any test that is completed, the doctor can see in the middle of the night or any time. They will have passwords so only they can look up information on their patients.&uot;

The program also will allow the lab to fax test results directly to the doctor’s office without making a print-out first. And for the hospitals using electronic charts, the lab will be able to send information directly into those charts.

As the last independent, family-owned laboratory of its kind in Mississippi, Natchez Path Lab has made a commitment to community and medical care, said Suzanne Steckler, president of the corporation and business manager at the lab.

&uot;If we had sold out as most of the other independent labs have done, you would basically see a drawing station here. There would be no test results for the doctor who needs it immediately,&uot; Steckler said.

Steckler is proud of the work done at the lab and the contribution to health care in the area. Further, the business provides jobs because the lab work is not farmed out to a lab in some other city or state.

And she is proud of the caliber of the employees at the lab, whom she described as experienced and well trained in their fields.

&uot;We have people working here with four-year degrees who would be in supervisory positions in big cities,&uot; she said.

The lab serves physicians but also hospitals and nursing homes. Some of the work, such as phlebotomy services at nursing homes and rehabilitation hospitals, are break-even operations, but Steckler said the lab is committed to doing that work.

&uot;A lot of the larger labs are dropping that kind of work because it’s not a money-maker,&uot; she said.

Steckler was quick to point out that the three hospitals in the area also have medical labs and that working relationships among the labs are good.

Their location in the Medical Arts Building, built in 1960, is excellent, but the business will not occupy space in the new medical office

building that is expected to replace the present one. &uot;That would be ideal,&uot; Steckler said. &uot;But we need too much space, and it would not be financially feasible for us to do that.&uot;

Instead, Natchez Path Lab will move to a nearby location, either in the Tracetown Shopping Center or on property the corporation already owns when construction begins on the new building.