Our Mission
The mission of the Laboratory Central Services Branch is to
provide centralized professional, technical, and administrative support services
which are essential to the operation of the Department's public health
diagnostic laboratories.
Major services to Richmond Campus laboratories include:
administration of an AAALAC-accredited laboratory animal care and use program;
specimen receiving and processing; preparation of diagnostic culture media;
glassware services; decontamination and appropriate disposal of medical waste;
and support for the Laboratory Practices Safety Committee and the Institutional
Animal Care and Use Committee.
Specimen receiving includes the accession, tracking, and
assurance of the biological integrity for patient and environmental samples
submitted from local public health laboratories and other sources until they
arrive at the appropriate destination laboratory, as well as trans-shipment of
specimens to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for
additional or confirmatory testing.
The branch is also responsible for the state's regulatory Animal
Use Approval Program under the California Health and Safety Code which
requires that persons (individuals, corporations, or institutions) who wish to
keep or use live, warm-blooded animals for education, research, testing, or
diagnostic purposes must apply to the Department for approval to conduct such activities.