In 1967, a medical residency student founded a laboratory company in a two-bed room apartment in New York City to pursue a bold vision: deliver innovative, quality laboratory testing for less money. Today, Quest Diagnostics is the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, serving one in three American adults each year.
Teterboro Celebration
On April 21, 2017, Quest celebrated its anniversary at the company’s flagship laboratory in Teterboro, New Jersey, with an event attended by more than 200 people, mostly employees. The event featured presentations by chairman, president and CEO Steve Rusckowski, the company’s founder, Dr. Paul A. Brown, and Pat Maloney, one of the company’s first employees. Dr. Brown and Mahoney discussed the early days of Quest, when pap slides were stained on top of a bath tub. Despite these humble beginnings, their early vision of the company was to have labs in major cities and 2,000 blood draw locations – a vision which mirrors the Quest of today. An added highlight was Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), who presented Quest with a proclamation and delivered remarks recognizing the achievements of the company.
Health in Your Hands Anniversary Grants
Quest Diagnostics also commemorated its 50th anniversary milestone by awarding $150,000 in total grants to three organizations that share its goal to improve healthcare: The American Red Cross, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition and Autism Speaks. To read more,
click here.
Our Past
Quest Diagnostics was founded in 1967 by Paul A. Brown, M.D. a pathology resident at New York Presbyterian Hospital, with a $500 loan from his father-in-law. Dr. Brown’s early goal for the company --then called Metropolitan Pathology Laboratories (MetPath) -- was to provide outpatient laboratory testing which would improve accuracy and reduce costs for patients and area hospitals in New York. The headquarters for the new enterprise was a modest apartment in Manhattan’s Washington Heights section; a bathtub acted as the staining area for Pap test slides for cervical cancer. Dr. Brown’s wife was the company’s first courier – with their children in tow.
Our Present
Over the span of 50 years, Quest has developed countless innovative diagnostic information services, with several firsts for clinical laboratory tests in areas such as women’s health, genetics, infectious diseases and cancer. Last year, the company was the first commercial laboratory to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for a molecular Zika test.Today, Quest Diagnostics is the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, with $7.5 billion in annual revenues and 43,000 employees. Quest provides services that empower people to take action to improve health outcomes. Derived from the world's largest database of clinical lab results, the company’s diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve health care management. Quest is consistently recognized as a leading company by organizations and publications, such as Forbes, Fortune and others.
Our Future
Quest Diagnostics intends to continue to lead the industry with healthcare innovations that deliver on its vision to empower better health with diagnostic insights. As healthcare changes, so does the company, with a focus on extending its capabilities in several areas. Key areas of focus include advanced diagnostics, such as genomics and precision medicine; consumer and extended healthcare; information management and technology; and professional lab management for health systems.Learn more at
QuestDiagnostics.com/home/about/50.
