What to bring

• Valid Health Card
• Completed and signed lab or test requisition from your physician

When you arrive

• Please use the Main Entrance and proceed to the Information desk.
• Proceed to the Cardiology door (Block A, Level 1) and present your requisition to the receptionist who will provide you with a pager.
• Return to the waiting room. When your turn comes up, your pager will buzz and light up and indicate in which room to go.
• Room numbers and other public interest messages are presented on TV screens in the waiting room.
• Blood tests and other collections are usually done on a first come, first serve basis. Therefore, the wait time may vary according to the volume of patients. However, some tests are time sensitive and may be given priority.

Preparation and procedure

• Follow preparation instructions on your physician’s requisition. If you have questions about the preparation, call your physician’s office.
• It is important to follow preparation instructions, for example, fasting, as this will affect the accuracy of your test results.
  • Lipids testing – 14-hour fasting (no food, chewing gum or beverages; a few sips of water is allowed if needed, for example, to brush your teeth)
  • Glucose testing – 8-hour fasting (no food, chewing gum or beverages; a few sips of water is allowed if needed, for example, to brush your teeth)
  • 2-hour Glucose Tolerance Test: you must be fasting for 8 hours before the first blood test. You may not leave the hospital for the duration of the test.
  • Gestational Diabetes Test: you may not leave the hospital for the duration of the test.
  • 2-hour postprandial test: you must be fasting for 8 hours before the first blood test, then have breakfast and come back 2 hours afterwards for the second blood test.
• When bringing back samples, please ensure that each sample is well identified (name and date of birth) and includes the collection date and time.
• For take home collection, please follow instructions for your prescribed test. Printed instructions sheets are available at the SCC and in PDF format in the following links.
  • Mucus (sputum) culture – Home collection instructions for patients (PDF)
  • Stool culture – Cary Blair with indicator – Home collection instructions for patients (PDF)
  • Stool for C-difficile toxin – Home collection instructions for patients (PDF)
  • Stool for occult blood – Home collection instructions for patients (PDF)
  • Stool for Ova and Parasites – Home collection instructions for patients (PDF)
  • Urine collection – 24 hours – Home collection instructions for patients (PDF)
  • Urine collection – Midstream Clean Catch – Home collection instructions for patients (PDF)
  • Urine collection – Children – Home collection instructions for parents (PDF)
• The collection time, including data entering, takes approximately 10 minutes.
• Vending machines and cafeteria services are available for patients or you may bring food to eat after your test if you were fasting.

Test results

• Depending on the type of test, your family doctor should receive your test results within 10 working days.
• Results will also be available in your electronic medical record. For information on the creation of an account and how to access your electronic medical record, visit MyChart.
• You must book an appointment with your family doctor or healthcare professional that gave you the test requisition to discuss your test results.

The team

• Phlebotomists
• Receptionists

Business hours

Monday to Friday, from 7:30 am to 3:15 pm, except public holidays

Telephone

613-632-1111, extension 51201

Fax

613-636-6178

Address

HGH – Main Campus
1111 Ghislain Street
Hawkesbury, ON  K6A 3G5

The Specimen Collection Centre is located in Block A, level 1. View a hospital plan.

Resources

For information about preparation for tests and a list of specimen collection centers, visit Ontario Association of Medical Laboratories.

Referring patients to the Specimen Collection Centre at Hawkesbury and District General Hospital

When referring patients to our Specimen Collection Centre, please ask them to pick up specimen collection kits at HGH as not all kits are compatible with the testing provided by EORLA.

About forms sent to HGH Specimen Collection Centre

• Tests to be performed in the Ontario Public Health Laboratory (OPHL) system, such as Hepatitis, Prenatal Testing and Lyme disease, must be ordered on the OPHL requisitions. This will prevent transcription errors and ensure that the clinical information required to effectively process the specimen is recorded.
• Please make sure the OPHL form is duly completed before giving it to the patient, in order to avoid a delay in handling this requisition.
• A list of general tests provided by the Ontario Public Health Laboratory is presented on the back of the General Test Requisition.

Requisitions Forms

• For Ontario patients seeing physicians at any HGH ambulatory clinic, use the Ontario Requisition 4422-84.
• For Québec and out-of-province patients, use the Laboratory Requisition Form CLI-04-3003 v4 (PDF).
• For requisitions for Public Health Laboratories, visit Public Health Ontario
  • Requisition for general public health tests
  • Requisition for HIV serology test
  • Requisition for prenatal screening

The Hawkesbury and District General Hospital (HGH) provides more than 40 specialized medical clinics for residents of Prescott-Russell and surrounding region. For a list of clinics, departments and services, visit Refer a patient.