Hatters voice concerns over lab wait times

By KENDALL KING on April 25, 2023.

kking@medicinehatnews.com

Hatters are joining Albertans across the province in voicing concerns over community laboratory wait times and efficiency, following the transition to DynaLIFE Medical Labs.

In January of 2022, the province signed an agreement contracting community laboratory services to DynaLIFE – a private, Alberta-based, partially American-owned medical laboratory company – and longtime operator of several Edmonton and North zone community labs.

Billed as a cost-saving measure allowing for better allocation of provincial healthcare funding, the agreement went into effect July 1, 2022; however the transition from former operator, Alberta Precision Labs, an Alberta Health Service subsidiary, was rolled out in stages, with South zone labs transitioning on Feb. 27, preceded by the North, Edmonton, Central and Calgary zones in December of 2022.

Concerns over wait times and efficiency began to arise immediately following the transition, particularly in Calgary, though residents of Medicine Hat say such issues exist locally as well.

Chronic health conditions have, for many years, required Hatters Shelley and Murray Roll to regularly access the city’s Carry Drive community lab.

In recent years, Shelley has required weekly bloodwork, which her doctor uses to monitor changes in her condition and adjust medication accordingly.

Despite the bloodwork being a regular part of her life for years, Shelley says she has never encountered significant issues which hindered its completion, but all that recently changed.

She claims, over the past two months, she has encountered numerous issues, culminating last week when she visited her doctor’s office to review the bloodwork and her doctor informed her not all tests he had requested had been completed.

She then went back to redo the testing, but says staff dismissed the error and told her she would have to re-book for their next available appointment in three weeks.

“Before DynaLIFE took over, sometimes they had little problems with my bloodwork, but very few,” Shelley told the News. “If they did, they would call me (and say) ‘Please come to the lab right now. We’re going to get you in immediately to do your bloodwork.'”

“But now, I’ve had to make another appointment, which is May 15. And, if those two counts of my bloodwork (that weren’t completed) were crucial, I could end up in the hospital.”

The couple say they have heard similar stories from other community members, and are growing more concerned, as they feel Albertans’ health is at risk if such issues are not promptly addressed.

“It’s a mess,” said Shelley, of which Murray agreed.

Nevertheless, the couple stress that they are not blaming laboratory staff – who they believe are understaffed and overworked – nor are they insinuating DynaLIFE is the sole source fuelling such issues.

“Everybody’s trying to hold DynaLIFE accountable, but it was the government that did this,” said Murray. “So where is the government in all this? Why are they not stepping up to the plate and saying (something)? They created this.

“The system was working pretty damn good before the government went to privatize this.”

The News reached out to both Alberta Health and DynaLIFE for comment. A response has not yet been provided by Alberta Health, however AHS said in a statement last week it is working with DynaLIFE to improve wait times in Calgary labs by increasing staff numbers.

DynaLIFE confirmed efforts to improve wait times and increase staff are also underway in Medicine Hat, with two new staff positions recently been recruited to join the team of more than 20 staff currently employed at the city’s Carry Drive lab.

“Currently, 80 per cent of patients who visit the Medicine Hat lab are served within 40 minutes and we are working to improve this service time,” DynaLIFE said in its statement to the News.

Officials with the Health Sciences Association of Alberta say recruitment efforts may be hindered, however, as negotiations between DynaLIFE and the union hit an impasse last week.

The union, representing roughly 2,600 DynaLIFE workers under two separate contracts, is bargaining for a new contract which would equalize pay between staff hired by DynaLIFE and those who transitioned from APL; as former APL workers earn roughly 10 per cent more than their DynaLIFE counterparts for the same positions and job responsibilities.

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