Alberta government adding more lab appointments in Calgary
Posted Aug 3, 2023 5:40 pm.
The Alberta government aims to make medical test appointments more accessible by offering more community lab appointments to help reduce wait times, mainly in Calgary.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) and DynaLIFE Medical Labs made the joint decision to allow Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) to offer more appointments.
As a result, there will be 400 new community lab appointments at South Health Campus and Peter Lougheed Centre starting Saturday, and an additional 175 appointments will be added at the Foothills Medical Centre laboratory on Aug 12.
Alberta Precision Labs is part of Alberta Health Services and mainly handles lab tests in hospitals and urgent care centres.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says this is just the first step, as the provincial government is also working to extend lab appointment hours and hire more staff.
“Today is an important step forward with an immediate infusion of new appointments and hundreds more to come over the next few weeks,” LaGrange said in a news release.
WATCH: Alberta government in talks to buy out DynaLIFE lab services: NDP
The province says APL is also working on adding 7,500 weekly appointments, which it says is a 25 per cent increase in Calgary.
It states APL will recruit and hire more staff so lab services are available six days a week, with 2,000 new appointments expected weekly into fall 2023.
More third-party providers will also be contracted to add additional capacity. The government says this will add 3,000 appointments per week by mid-to-late August in Calgary.
Lastly, new community patient service centres in southeast Calgary, Glenbrook, and Airdrie are expected to add about 2,500 new weekly appointments this fall.
The Alberta government says all existing appointments and lab services will continue to be provided as scheduled.
Read More: Alberta government in talks to buy out DynaLIFE lab services: NDP
Meanwhile, Mike Parker, the president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), which is a union for healthcare professionals, says lab professionals with the union are taking extra shifts to address the “crisis of laboratory service wait times in Calgary.”
“It is no surprise that our talented lab professionals are stepping up to help provide the crucial care Albertans need and resolve the failure in laboratory services caused by the unnecessary transition of lab services to DynaLIFE,” Parker said in a news release.
“Our members’ dedication to the health of Albertans and professionalism despite the chaos of this transition have kept our lab system functioning. It’s time they get the recognition they deserve and the support they need to do their work sustainably.”
He says lab professionals with the union were offered additional shifts to provide extra appointments, pop-up collection clinics, and processing support at hospitals in Calgary and Edmonton since June.
In addition, Parker says the province’s decision to bring in support from the publicly administered laboratory system to “correct the failures of a for-profit system will only provide short-term support.”
Related Stories:
-
Privatization of Alberta community lab services sparks concerns
-
Calgary lab delays raise privatization concerns
He says there has to be sustained investment to strengthen the public system to address gaps caused by “for-profit laboratory services,” adding the crisis will worsen as staff burnout spreads.
“When the government announced the DynaLIFE contract, it promised vague cost savings while somehow also expanding access and improving the quality of lab services. When we raised concerns about how for-profit care would impact patients and our members, it was dismissed by the government.” Parker said.
“Delayed cancer treatments, kids getting sick while waiting on tests, and all of the anguish people are going through just to access testing could have been avoided by keeping the public system intact.”
“Even if the government’s hopes of cost savings somehow come true, no amount of money saved would be worth the pain it has caused Albertans and our members. The only thing that will give this pain meaning is if we learn that the promises of for-profit care cannot be trusted and that our public system should not be pulled apart for the sake of corporate profits.”
Alberta NDP says UCP putting bandaid on lab crisis
The Opposition NDP says the announcement is “proof Albertans need that the [United Conservative Party] plan for lab services has completely failed.”
“Albertans who have been waiting far too long for their tests deserve a real solution to this crisis. While this is an important first step, this is the UCP putting a bandage on the crisis they created. We are concerned that there is nothing in this plan to help fix the serious lab errors that are happening daily,” said Luanne Metz, Alberta NDP Critic for Health (Emergency and Surgical Care), in a statement.
She says more tests being done is a good start but adds there needs to be a plan for Albertans to ensure accurate, timely results are delivered to physicians.
“This announcement effectively means that Danielle Smith and Adriana LaGrange are using public resources to bail out DynaLIFE and cover for their own failures to deliver what they promised Albertans,” she continued.
“Smith and LaGrange owe the people of Alberta an apology for their role in creating this crisis and a real and honest accounting for how much Albertans are paying to cover for Dynalife’s failures.”
DynaLIFE Labs has experienced numerous complaints of delays and cancellations of appointments since the UCP granted it a contract to handle lab services in December 2022.
Edmonton-based lab took on about 65 per cent of provincial work through a contract with the Alberta government.
This announcement also comes after lobbying records revealed that the Alberta government is in talks to buy out DynaLIFE Medical Labs, which was given a provincial lab services contract late last year.
NDP leader Rachel Notley claimed that the experiences Albertans faced at these clinics were intended to deter them from paying for medical services at private facilities.
Albertans can continue booking lab appointments online or by calling 1-877-702-4486.
