Community clinical laboratories in Puerto Rico could be forced to close as their electric bills rise between 25% and 50%, according to lawyer María Eugenia Ferrer of Laboratorio Clínico Villa Labs. Ferrer explains that clinical labs are not businesses that shut down when a shift ends: they depend on electricity around the clock, every day, to keep their equipment in optimal condition and to guarantee the reliability of test results.
She warns that if community clinical laboratories close, people’s access to health care would be limited. Villa Labs is a family-owned laboratory with eight branches in San Juan, Carolina and Trujillo Alto that employs 56 workers. Ferrer says the laboratory faces a squeeze in which expenses keep rising while income keeps falling, and she cautions that if this trend continues, more community laboratories could close.