Update from the Director

The view from the Director’s office

Checking in with our clients is an important means of ensuring that we continue to satisfy your testing needs.  AHL does this by circulating a survey consisting of 27 questions that examine issues such as timeliness and accuracy of test results, responsiveness of staff, preferred method of communication, among others.  We hope that you had an opportunity to respond to the recent survey.  Thanks to all of you who took the time to complete the survey.  The results are summarized and compared graphically to previous years’ results, and we’ll be reporting on these in a future newsletter.  In addition, we read all of the comments provided, and our management team will discuss how we can best address the concerns and criticisms that are inevitable in any service industry such as ours.   

Not only is it important to seek out opportunities for continuous improvement, but also it is a requirement of our accreditations that we conduct and document these activities.  We are thankful to the members of our Quality Assurance (QA) team for the hard work they have put in this year in preparing for the biennial ISO/IEC 17025 audit which took place in October.  More details and a photo of our stellar QA team are available in the staff highlights section. 

Thinking back over the past few years, one cannot but be grateful that this holiday season is looking much more promising in many ways.  Despite ongoing staffing and supply challenges, most businesses have recovered to pre-pandemic levels.  For the first time in 4 years, AHL staff will be sitting together to enjoy a holiday lunch in person.  We hope that you are also able to celebrate the season with your colleagues, families and friends.  Best wishes for the holidays, happiness, and peace in 2024.

Maria Spinato, Director

Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON