At the same time, prior to all the talk about the errors, the senior administration wasn’t too aware of what pathologists did. They were basically seen as basement dwellers, rarely seen, but once in a while in the cafeteria. “I knew they did specimens, but I didn’t know what pathologists did,” Pilgrim said. “Shocking for me to say it, but I have to tell the truth I didn’t know what they did.” It was expected that quality control was a given, she said. “I remember I always thought of the lab as the place where you had quality control up to your ying-yang, because it was always thought it was machines that did the work. I never thought of the people component of the lab,” Pilgrim said. “So, I certainly feel as, I look back on my career and any time I’ve been in a position to think about the lab, we didn’t resource them at all like we did other areas.
