Oklahoma’s Public Health Laboratory is in a state of flux. Officials are in the process of moving the lab to Stillwater, a plan that proved controversial throughout the fall and winter.
When the plan went into motion late last year, the state created a new position to oversee that lab and the state’s new pandemic center. State officials hired Dr. Michael Kayser to direct those facilities.
One of the lab’s most pivotal functions is newborn screenings. Lab workers run blood tests on all babies born in Oklahoma to check for genetic disorders and other conditions.
Kayser, as the new director, was tasked with re-evaluating those protocols.
"[Kayser} noted that they were using that outdated standard, one that really we should have moved away from previously," Commissioner of Health Lance Frye said during a recent media availability. "And so, you know, we don’t want to take any risks. We want to make sure we’re using the latest standards and have the best protocols possible for Oklahomans."
Oklahoma will be shipping all newborn screening samples to PerkinElmer in Pennsylvania. Those tests, and the ones that take place in Oklahoma afterward, will test for four more conditions, bringing the total up to 61.
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