Basic Information

Holidays: The Wyoming Public Health Laboratory observes nine official Wyoming State Government holidays. These are: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Specimen Delivery: U.S. Postal Service provides weekday delivery.  Specimens arriving on weekends or holidays are held at the post office.  

UPS, Federal Express, and carriers other than the U.S. Postal Service also provide deliveries Monday through Friday.

Note: Specimens from potential disease outbreaks should be sent by overnight carrier.

Delivery in person: Specimens may be brought to the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory office, Room 517 on the fifth floor of the Hathaway Building, 2300 Capitol Avenue, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. All specimens should be taken to the receiving cart in Room 517.

Metered street parking is available in the immediate area.

Courier Service:  The Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program in conjunction with the Newborn Screening Program is pleased to provide the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory (WPHL) with courier services.  At this time we have 34 pick-up sites across the state.  

 Laboratory Policy:  Laboratory testing is offered in support of public health programs.  The extent of these services is controlled by the priorities set by these programs, the legislative mandates for disease control and environmental monitoring, and the resources provided by the state legislature.  Some services are restricted to the local health departments or school health programs.  Others are available to physicians and hospitals.

The Wyoming Public Health Laboratory, in collaboration with public health officials, reserves the right to establish criteria for the acceptance and rejection of specimens for testing.  These criteria are stated in the text for specific laboratory services.  Please note the specific requirements in the chemistry and microbiology sections of this manual.

For all laboratory sections, specimens must be labeled properly.  Every clinical specimen container must have the patient's name or other appropriate identification. Unlabeled specimens for Chemical Testing will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.  For specimens submitted for HIV testing, a control code number must be substituted for the patient's name.

All specimens must be accompanied by a properly completed laboratory request form. Federal regulations (CLIA) require the following minimal information on clinical laboratory test requisitions: patient's name or other unique identifier; test requestor; test(s) to be performed; date of collection of specimen; specimen source and any additional information relevant and necessary to a specific test. Testing may be delayed or not performed if the required information is not submitted.

Questions regarding laboratory policy on specimen criteria may be addressed to the Laboratory Program Manager/Director or the supervisors of the section in which the laboratory tests are performed.

Laboratory Reporting: Wyoming Public Health Laboratory reports are sent only to authorized persons who submitted the specimen.  Wyoming state law requires notification of health officials when reportable communicable disease organisms are isolated and identified.  Except for these situations, copies of laboratory reports will not be released to others except with the written request and permission of the original submitter.  The Chemical Testing Program has special criteria for release of reports.

Other Tests:  For other tests not covered in this manual or offered by the laboratories listed above, contact the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory office. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, will accept certain specimens for unusual diseases, but only with prior arrangement through the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory.

Rabies Testing: Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory
1174 Snowy Range Road
Laramie, WY  82070
(307) 742-6638 or 1-800-442-8331

The Wyoming Public Health Laboratory is an integral part of disease surveillance conducted by the State Epidemiologist.   As such, we provide confirmatory or reference testing for laboratories isolating organisms or otherwise providing laboratory tests which aid in the diagnosis of reportable infectious diseases. Hospital and other private or public laboratories are requested to submit subcultures, smears, or serum specimens for reportable disease to the PHL as an aid to the surveillance process.

Certifications:  Wyoming Public Health Laboratory holds Certificate #53D0662169, issued by the Health Care Financing Administration under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA-88).  We also hold a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Certificate and a certificate issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Program (PL 93-523). The Wyoming Public Health Laboratory participates in appropriate proficiency testing programs administered by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other approved private, federal, and state proficiency testing providers.

Ordering Sample/Specimen Mailing Containers:  The Wyoming Public Health Laboratory supplies mailing containers for collection of samples/specimens which comply with all U. S. Postal Service regulations. Proper usage should practically eliminate leakage or breakage in transit.  Instructions and request forms are included with the containers.  Specimens received in unsatisfactory containers or not collected and identified properly will not be examined.

Water samples must be submitted in mailers provided by the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory.  A list of pick-up points for these containers is included in the Pick-up Sites for Water Containers.

Payments/Prices:  The Wyoming Public Health Laboratory is supported by legislative appropriations from the general fund.  We also obtain support from some federal grants and appropriations.  To offset the costs of certain testing, specimen containers and kits, we do make some nominal charges.   These are described in the specialty sections of this manual where applicable.  

Availability Of Wyoming Public Health Laboratory Testing:  Tests performed by the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory are not free.  They are paid for by tax monies.  Because of that, the availability of tests to the health care community or to the general public, as well as the menu of tests available, is governed by the level of legislative support.  Priorities are established for the laboratory by legislative authorization for specific activities (e.g., prenatal laws, implied consent, etc.) and by program priorities authorized under general public health authority.

Our testing priorities generally follow this sequence:

1.     Wyoming Public Health programs for epidemiology, disease prevention and control, surveillance, and environmental testing.

2.  State and local law enforcement agencies.

3.      County and local health departments and clinics.

4.      Referral and confirmatory testing for hospitals and private laboratories.

5.      School health programs (Streptococcal Throat Cultures).

6.      Physicians.

If funding is not adequate for provision of laboratory tests for all of these potential clients, we sometimes have to reduce or eliminate test availability to them.