Friends of Medicare asks public to sign petition that urges the reversal of privatizing lab services in Alberta
By Medicine Hat News on May 2, 2020.
Friends of Medicare is shining a spotlight on the work being done in medical laboratories, and it has launched a petition urging the government to move away from privatization. The petition urges Minister of Health Tyler Shandro and the Government of Alberta to reverse the privatization of Alberta Precision Laboratories and instead expand its duties and responsibilities for providing lab services under Alberta Health Services. FoM is asking Albertans to sign and share this online petition to send a clear message to the the provincial government on this matter. http://www.friendsofmedicare.org/national_medical_laboratory_week2020 April 27 to May 2 was National Medical Laboratory week. FoM recognized in a statement the invaluable and life-saving contributions of medical laboratory professionals particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In Alberta, this pandemic has shone a light on the impact that having publicly delivered and funded lab services has made in helping to flatten the curve by providing the capacity for timely and effective diagnoses for those impacted by COVID-19,” says Sandra Azocar, executive director FoM. 6-5
The medical lab operating in Edmonton ( DynaLIFE) is a private company. The company has been acknowledged as one of the most highly accredited facilities in Canada, is recognized as being one of the top 75 employers in Alberta and is a platinum member of the best managed companies in Canada. If it can deliver excellent service to patients there, I would suggest the possibility of privatization in other regions of this province is not the perceived threat of eroding care that FOM suggests.