You may have heard going around the community that Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital is closing it’s draw station labs.  The labs are located in Penn valley on Catherine Lane and at the Hospital Diagnostic imaging center (Bldg. 4)  and provide a local source for patients to get their doctor ordered testing done.  Some people are concerned they may have to go down the hill for that service but, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Vice President of Operations Debbie Plass says there is no plan to close the draw stations. But the hospital is investigating the possible sale of their outreach draw station services to another laboratory services provider. She says in the changing health care environment, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital must consistently evaluate their core services to ensure that the hospital is strong and able to serve the community far into the future.  Also the payer mix or reimbursement from private and governmental providers has changed over the last several years, which has negatively affected the hospitals lab reimbursement. As fiscal stewards of the hospital they are exploring whether another vendor would be better positioned to provide these services.Lab services are still available to the community at the current locations.   Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital is  early in the process and expect to have a definitive decision about outreach lab services within 30 days,  and no changes would occur until later in the year.