A Canadian health-care company is vowing to fix the problems plaguing many Calgarians and Albertans when it comes to accessing diagnostic lab services.
DynaLIFE has been hit with numerous complaints since Dec. 5, 2022, when the private company took over publicly operated more community lab services in large urban centres around the province.
DynaLIFE had already provided lab services in Edmonton and several communities in the AHS North zone for more than 25 years, but the new contract saw the lab provider expand to more cities and towns.
The contract includes operating patient service and mobile collection centres in large communities, including Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Brooks, Lloydminster, Camrose, Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, Strathmore, Leduc, Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove, St. Albert and Stony Plain.
At the time of the announcement, the government said Albertans could rest assured they would be getting the best care possible.
But since then, many have complained about long wait times — of weeks, some even months — just to book an appointment for a blood test.
DynaLIFE CEO Jason Pincock told Global News the company has heard people’s complaints loud and clear and it’s working hard on solutions — especially in Calgary.
“The reality is yes, if you want to book a very specific time there is a challenge right now,” Pincock agreed.
“What we’re seeing in Calgary is not normal.”
Resident Julia Koziell is one of those who recently waited in a long lineup just to get her bloodwork done. But she told Global News that wasn’t even the worst part about the appointment.
That, she said, was when the blood was actually drawn.
“It was almost as if I could feel the metal of the needle going into my vein,” she said. “It was the most painful experience. I actually cried out.”
The cancer survivor said she has a high tolerance for pain, but this blood draw caused her to do something she had never done before.
“I ended up fainting — which I never fainted in my life before,” she added.
She said the arm they drew blood from three separate times ended up “battered and bruised.”
Koziell also told Global News DynaLIFE staff seemed scattered and stressed, “running around like chickens without their heads,” prompting her to question their experience and training.
Pincock said the standards have not changed from when labs were publicly operated under Alberta Health Services.
“The reality is, it’s all the same staff,” he said. “We took all of AHS’ staff. They are all qualified health professionals.”
Pincock said DynaLIFE has been working hard to train and hire more workers to be able to add to its capacity. But he admits finding those workers hasn’t been easy.
“COVID was hard on labs,” he pointed out.
“In addition, a lot of the lab training programs in Alberta had to sort of phase down during that period, so we lost a lot of graduates in that process and we have to build that workforce up again.”
DynaLIFE is also building new facilities, including two in Calgary, allowing it to add more appointments — including on evenings and weekends.
Other additions include a “rapid access program” which gives patients with urgent requisitions first dibs, as well as a “save my place” program which allows people to put their names on a list and wait elsewhere until they are called, typically within 20 minutes or so.
Pincock said overall, the company had spent millions to improve Albertans’ experiences. Next, it will work on a system upgrade — which DynaLIFE admitted could be another hiccup.
“I would love to say we are out of the woods, but the reality is there are changes coming for staff and the system. So bear with us,” he pleaded.
Last year, AHS said in order to ensure small, rural and remote communities continue to receive the service they need, smaller hospitals and community health sites that currently handle less than 25,000 community blood test collections per year will continue to be provided by Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL).
APL will also continue providing lab services inside acute care hospitals, along with specialized lab testing, research and innovation that is critical to Alberta’s provincial lab system.
— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News
Comments