LAKELAND, Fla. — A Lakeland mom whose daughter is immunocompromised said a couple of employees at Quest Diagnostics refused to wear their masks properly during an appointment for high risk patients last week.


What You Need To Know


  • Family was taking advantage of "Peace of Mind" program at location

  • Program sets aside 1st hour of each day for patients at greater risk

  • Company insists wearing masks properly is required, is conducting internal review

  • More Polk County stories

"All the patients were fully covered. Their masks were all on," said Angela Waddell, 49. "It was only the Quest employees that didn't have their masks fully on."

The incident occurred on June 8 at the Quest Diagnostics center in north Lakeland. Waddell said because her 17-year-old daughter, Rebekah, is immunocompromised, the family took advantage of a Quest Diagnostics VIP care program called "Peace of Mind."

The program sets aside the first hour of each day for patients 60 years of age or older or those who have other conditions that put them at greater risk for COVID-19, according to the company's website.

"Our family is staying quarantined. We're Instacarting our groceries," said Waddell. "Literally, the only time we're going out is for things like this." 

Waddell said when she and her daughter went into a procedure area of the patient service center for a blood draw, the phlebotomist was wearing a mask beneath her nose and would not properly adjust it.

"I just asked her if she would completely cover her nose and mouth and she refused, saying that she wasn't sick," said Waddell. "I said that 'people could be asymptomatic'... I asked her again, if she would fully wear her mask. She said that she couldn't breathe with it on and she shouldn't have to breathe in CO2." 

Waddell said at that point she asked if there was a manager who could do the blood draw instead. The employee got the manager, who was also wearing her mask improperly.

"I had asked the person in charge if she could fully cover her nose and mouth and she told me that she couldn't breathe if she had it on, that it was up to her nose and she also couldn't see," said Waddell. "At that point, I just said, 'I think it's best if we leave' and she looked at me and said, 'you are crazy,' and so then I just asked Rebekah to stand up and we left."

Rebekah said this was her first outing in nearly three months and she did not feel safe from COVID-19 at Quest Diagnostics.

"I'm going to get it," said Rebekah. "Because this lady won't wear a mask."

Waddell said the Quest employees told her the company policy stated that wearing masks was optional for staff. Denny Moynihan, a Senior Director of External Engagement at Quest Diagnostics, said that’s incorrect.

Moynihan sent us the following statement:

"Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Our policies require that employees at our Patients Service Centers are required to wear face masks. We are conducting an internal review into the matter. As we communicated to Ms. Waddell on Twitter, we're sorry if this was her experience."

Waddell said she has since switched to using LabCorp for her daughter's blood tests. The mom said during her first visit to LabCorp the tech was also wearing his mask improperly but when asked to adjust it, the employee complied.

"Especially with immunocompromised patients it's an easy thing to do, I think, to protect the most vulnerable," said Waddell. "Especially, in medical facilities."