Bill Hichak says that being “hands-on” is the best part of his work as manager of the CUMC dermatopathology lab.

That means saving the administrative paperwork for when he gets to his Orange County home in Campbell Hall, N.Y. And that’s after he finishes his overnight work that starts about 10 p.m. and ends about 7:30 a.m.

Hichak’s “hands on” efforts involve the processing of tissue specimens – his lab produces as many as 2,500 slides in a routine night – so they’re on the pathologists’ desks in the morning. Hichak, who might handle as many as 1,000 slides a night, says the most rewarding part of his job is striving for the one-day turnaround, thereby reducing worries for patients “who don’t like to wait four days” for their skin biopsy results.

Dr. David N. Silvers, lab director, arrives there as early as 6 a.m., with three more pathologists arriving soon after, Hichak says. “What I like is their work waiting for them, rather than they’re waiting for their work, he says.

The work of the dermatopathogy lab is what Hichak describes as the “embedding of tissue” in which each specimen is put through a process that ultimately replaces water with wax so pathologists can make their diagnoses.

The three-part embedding process uses formalin to kill the tissue and preserve it, alcohol to remove the water in the tissue, and xylene to remove the alcohol and make the tissue paraffin-compatible. Once the tissue is embedded in paraffin, it’s cut and put on a slide for the pathologists’ examinations.

The lab has been an integral part of the CUMC Environmental Health & Safety Department’s attempts to find ways to reduce waste and recycle. The surgical pathology and dematopathology labs have been the first to pilot recycling technologies for xylene and alcohol through the installation of chemical recycling machines in the two labs. Last year, the dermatopathology lab had 111,618 patients from all over the tri-state area.

Hichak, who’s been at CUMC for nearly four years, is proud to say that a total of 2,400 gallons of alcohol and xylene were recycled in 2005. His lab uses the recycling machine each day, with four hours required to recycle five gallons of xylene and seven and a half hours for five gallons of alcohol.

Hichak’s commitment to the environment encompasses his personal and professional life. He’s in love with the outdoors, especially with hunting and fishing. Last year Hichak organized two fishing trips for his lab colleagues on a rented party boat around City Island.

Hichak, 49, is a graduate of Southampton College, with a B.S. in Biology and Marine Science Oceanography. He’s an accredited histologic technician – a person who prepares slides of body tissue, and a histotechnologist – one who deals with more complex tissue processing as well as lab management and supervision. Hichak is a member of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists.