Christopher Ridgeway

Christopher Ridgeway built his laboratory business around a straightforward idea: physicians and patients benefit most when diagnostic services are broad, accessible, and handled by a single trusted provider rather than scattered across multiple vendors. That philosophy shows up clearly in the range of services offered under Stone Clinical Laboratories.

The lab's offerings span several specialized areas of clinical testing, including toxicology, early-stage cancer detection, pharmacogenetics, pathology, and general wellness testing. Rather than focusing narrowly on one diagnostic niche, Ridgeway structured the company to address a wide spectrum of patient and physician needs, reducing the friction that comes from working with multiple separate labs for different testing categories.

This breadth of service didn't happen by accident. Stone Clinical Laboratories was designed as an expansion of Stone Surgical, a medical services company Ridgeway had already built in 2008. Stone Surgical focused on supplying advanced techniques and technologies for examination and surgical rooms, including medical device implants used in neuro, spine, and orthopedic procedures. By adding clinical laboratory capabilities on top of that existing device and surgical services foundation, Ridgeway created a more complete healthcare solutions model.

Together, the two companies function as what's often described as a single-source provider — meaning physicians and healthcare facilities can rely on one connected organization for both medical devices and specialty laboratory testing, rather than juggling separate contracts and points of contact. This model extends beyond Ridgeway's home base in New Orleans, with the companies serving healthcare facilities across the United States.

For Ridgeway, the appeal of this approach seems rooted in efficiency and access. Streamlining testing and improving the efficiency of molecular diagnostics were explicit goals behind founding Stone Clinical Laboratories, aimed at reducing costs for patients and managed care systems while increasing overall access to quality diagnostics.

Ultimately, the service model reflects a broader theme in Ridgeway's healthcare work: identifying where gaps exist in the system and building practical, scalable solutions to close them, whether that means specialty testing, surgical technology, or the combination of both under one roof.