KIMBALL -- The laboratorians at Kimball Health Services are being recognized this week during Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, better known as Lab Week. 

Lora Dinorog, also known as Peachy at the hospital, is the laboratory director at Kimball Health Services, and she says laboratorians play a vital role in caring for patients that everyone may not realize.  

She and her colleagues aid in the process of diagnosing a patient's condition by drawing their blood and analyzing it, along with other bodily fluids, if necessary, then they prepare it for testing on the machines that give further insight for the physicians in diagnosing their patient’s condition. 

“It will be nice for people to be aware of what the role of the laboratory is for the whole hospital,” Peachy said. “There's more to being in the laboratory that just drawing blood.” 

She says what she loves about her job is doing the lab work while still being able to converse with patients. As for working with her colleagues, she gains insight from them about what they’ve experienced in previous labs and learns about machines that she was not previously aware of.

The laboratorians kicked off Lab Week by sporting shirts with “#LABLIFE” printed on them. Peachy is also planning a special goodie for the team every day this week. Today she gifted everyone with doughnuts with a note saying, “We do not know what to do without you.” 

Peachy and a few of her colleagues are from the Philippines, so they found a way to share their culture with the rest of the team by planning an Asian-themed lunch on Wednesday. 

Kerry Ferguson, Director of Public Relations at Kimball Health Services, says, “We’re very proud of Peachy, she does a wonderful job, she’s a ray of sunshine around the whole facility, and she just helps to put you in a good mood just being around her.”