Laboratory Services at UNC Health Blue Ridge

When your doctor orders a lab test, UNC Health Blue Ridge can provide walk-in testing and accurate results, which are often ready within a few hours.

We offer outpatient services five days a week. We also perform inpatient lab tests 24 hours, seven days a week. And because we cover many areas of pathology and medical laboratory testing, we are a great local choice whether you need a hematology lab, a urine lab test, blood banking or another lab service.

There are many reasons to choose UNC Health Blue Ridge for your next outpatient lab test, including:

Quality. We offer quality medical testing lab services that are cost-effective and provide results you can trust. Our laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and has been for decades. To earn CAP accreditation, our lab adheres to and maintains thousands of detailed lab standards and receives an on-site inspection of its policies, procedures, quality control records, staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program records and overall laboratory management.

Highly trained lab professionals. Our team includes certified, skilled phlebotomists, American Society for Clinical Pathologists-certified medical laboratory scientists, and medical laboratory technicians who work under the supervision of three board-certified pathologists.

State-of-the-art lab tools. To better serve you, we have invested in the latest instruments, from molecular microbiology, chemistry, and hematology lab test tools to the devices the phlebotomists use in the lab to ensure that each patient is accurately matched to their test sample.

Walk-in lab tests. You don’t need an appointment to have an outpatient lab test. However, we will need an order from your physician. Please remember to bring the order (unless your doctor faxed the order to us), a valid driver’s license or photo ID for proper identification, and your insurance information.

We offer a wide array of tests, including CMP (comprehensive metabolic panel), BMP (basic metabolic panel), CBC (complete blood count), lipid (cholesterol) panels, thyroid testing, therapeutic drug levels testing, COVID-19 testing, molecular testing panels for encephalitis, blood cultures, respiratory panels, GI panels, urinalysis, and flu, RSV, and MRSA testing.

Fast results. While most routine test results are performed on-site and completed within a few hours, specialized tests are sent out to our reference lab and may take 24 to 48 hours to complete. We will send your results to your doctor, who can interpret them for you.

Our outpatient lab services are located on the lobby level at both Morganton and Valdese campuses.  

Outpatient Lab Phone number and fax number information: Morganton - (828) 580-6966, fax- (828) 580-6965, Valdese- (828) 580-7268, fax- (828) 580-7567

Our regular hours of operation for outpatient labs are as follows:

Note: If you are having lab work done as an outpatient after 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, at Morganton, please come to the main lab next to our inpatient Imaging Department. You can reach this lab location by calling (828) 580-6100

If you receive a blood transfusion, we will obtain the blood from “The Blood Connection.” There is no charge for the blood itself; the charge appearing on your bill reflects what  “The Blood Connection” charges us for collecting and processing (including testing) the blood, plus our charge for determining type, cross-matching, storing and transfusion of the blood.

We encourage you to urge your family and friends to donate blood to The Blood Connection so that blood will always be available when needed. To learn more about blood donations, please visit thebloodconnection.org.