Poplar Healthcare Announces New Division: OncoMetrix

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Aug. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Poplar Healthcare, a leading laboratory services company, has expanded its specialized test offering to the national hematology and oncology market through the launch of its latest division, OncoMetrix.

"With our focus on providing high quality, rapid turnaround and in-network laboratory services," says William McDowell, CEO of Poplar Healthcare, "it was a natural progression to expand into serving patients being treated for complex diseases by oncologists. Our goal is to provide the same high quality services to these physicians and patients as we currently do to gastroenterologists, dermatologists and their patients."

Poplar Healthcare assembled a strong team of experts to lead the business and medical aspects of OncoMetrix including Robert Walker, who will serve as the President of OncoMetrix. Mr.  Walker has  held leadership positions in the healthcare field with organizations such as Olympus, STERIS Corporation, Apria Healthcare, Esoterix and AEL. He was also a founding partner of  OralDNA Labs, a dental laboratory specializing in periodontal disease and oral HPV.

Walker is enthusiastic about his new role and the opportunities created by the addition of OncoMetrix to Poplar Healthcare. He remarks, "We believe our comprehensive test offering, broad managed care coverage, expert staff, flexible reporting capabilities and fast turnaround time will lead to tremendous success in this marketplace."

Other key team members include the OncoMetrix Director of Hematopathology, Dr. Douglas Kingma, who served as a faculty member at   the NIH for 10 years; Dr. Mihaela Onciu, who was a faculty member and hematopathologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis for approximately 10 years; and Dr. Anita Kulharya, who joins OncoMetrix from the Medical College of Georgia, where she directed the cytogenetics laboratory for 16 years.

About Poplar Healthcare:

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Memphis, Poplar Healthcare is a leading laboratory services company. Through its GI Pathology, D-PATH and OncoMetrix brands, Poplar Healthcare provides specialized laboratory testing services to a nationwide client base of  gastroenterologists, dermatologists, oncologists and their patients. For more information on Poplar Healthcare, call 901.526.1912 or visit www.poplarhealthcare.com.

SOURCE Poplar Healthcare