Labcorp

Short version: Don’t ever go to this location to get blood work done. Unprofessional and they have no idea what they are doing.
Long version: I had made an appointment to get blood drawn to potentially be a match for a bone marrow donation. Appointment was for 10:30am. It was near the time and there was traffic so I gave them a call to let them know I would be 5 – 10 minutes late. I called and no one answered. I left a message and they didn’t call me back. Most of the time was wasted trying to get into their parking lot. There were road blockers at the entrance to their parking lot, because from the looks of it, it just got re-​done or re-​painted. I had to then parking in another parking lot and walk across grass to get to their door. (Time was 10:38am) I walked in and the lobby was empty and so was the window where the receptionist sits. I signed in on the clipboard and waited. I saw a bell so I tapped it. A few minutes later, an older woman comes out asking what I needed. I told her blood work and that there should have been a white box that was set here with my vials. I told her it had a red puzzle piece logo on the side. She looked at me like I was speaking piglatin. I repeated slower. She then shuffled through some paperwork on her desk and explaining she didn’t know what I was talking about. I try to explain it is in a white box. She said «I’ll check the fax.» (Oh, I didn’t know they sent boxes through the fax now! -.-) She disappears into the back and comes back like 5 minutes later. Then she says «Oh, I know its in this room. Now my mind is working. It’ll be a few minutes while we get it ready.» She disappears again. This older gentleman comes out of the back room with a walker. Some nurses help him into his car because apparently he had a fall risk. No problem. It was 11:00am when I was finally called and ushered into the back by a different, younger nurse. She gets my box and opens it up to get my vials ready (which the other lady said she was doing but apparently not). She checks out my viens in my arm. I inform her that my viens are small, from what the Red Cross tell me when I donate blood. She tells me that my viens are huge to what she deals with and that the needles she uses are much smaller. She seemed professional, until this:
She used a standard (21 gauge x 1 ¼″) vacutainer blood collection needle. (Most would use a butterfly infant needle for blood draw). But before she could draw any blood, she had a hard time finding my vein with her finger. She touched my inner elbow part without gloves on, trying to feel a vein. Once she found one, she put on gloves, cleansed the area with alcohol and did the unthinkable — She put her index finger in her mouth and used her teeth to tear the tip off of her glove so her finger tip was exposed. She then continued to feel my vien that was clean, but now has her mouth covered finger on it. One needle went in. She took a vial from my box and attached it. The vial was vacuumed to help suck blood into it. However, it didn’t survive the travel with the heat and went flat. Instead of just taking the vial out and replacing it with a new one (she had extras of all the kinds I needed), she took out my needle! I am no doctor, but I am pretty sure you don’t have to stab a needle each time for every vial. Stab once and change out the vials as they are filled. Save my arm, will ya! She complained I was dehydrated which I was clearly not, she just couldn’t find a vien. She sent me away to drink some water. I would have just stayed in the lobby, but their water dispenser was empty. Therefore, I had to drive myself to the gas station and pay for some giant water bottles. When they were finished, I went back for a second try. She twisted the blinds so that more light would come into the room while saying, «This is a hippa violation of privacy but I need the light to find your vien.»
She then used a butterfly needle (which is what she was supposed to use in the first place) and tried to find a vein. In short, the most blood she got was enough to fill the tubing of the needle. She pulled the needle out and said, «Well, I’ve busted both of those viens on that arm and don’t want to risk trying the other arm so I’d say come back in a week or so, so we can try again.»
I left.
In conclusion: I would never recommend this location to anyone getting blood work done in the office. I told my coordinator that I don’t want to go back so we made an appointment at the Labcorp in Joplin, MO. The woman there was very professional and wore her gloves the entire time. She used a butterfly needle and filled all of my vials routinely. I was out of there in 10 minutes.