More lab appointments, shorter waits in Calgary, Alberta government says

The provincial government says lab access has been beefed up in the Calgary area after a move to privatize the service sparked backlogs and six-week waits for routine tests.

The concerns emerged in the spring, after Alberta Health Services (AHS) began contracting out lab services to Dynalife in Calgary and other parts of southern Alberta. The private company was already operating dozens of  labs in Edmonton and northern Alberta.

In a bid to fix the problems and quell the outcry,  the province announced lab services would be taken over, once again, by AHS-owned Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) by the end of 2023.

In a news release Tuesday, the province said lab appointments in Calgary are now available within 12 to 14 days on average. In April, waits had ballooned to about six weeks.

"Lab services are a critical part of a patient's diagnosis, and quicker access to lab tests means faster results and faster treatment," health minister Adriana LaGrange said in the release.

According to the provincial government, a new southeast Calgary lab, which opened Oct. 23, adds 2,000 weekly appointments. And 800 more will come on line when clinic expansions in southwest Calgary and Airdrie are finished early in 2024.

"These additional appointments will help Calgary region residents get the care they need, when they need it," LaGrange said.

According to the province, Alberta Precision Laboratories has added several thousand weekly appointments and boosted capacity by 22 per cent since September, in part, by reopening hospital labs to community patients.

There are now more than 24,000 appointments available each week in Calgary.

"We're happy to see that they're starting to resolve the backlog of wait times for lab appointments," said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.

"Seeing those appointments, seeing people wait shorter periods, is good and important work."

Earlier this year, the group was regularly getting emails and calls from Albertans who were frustrated by the long waits. Some, he said, were driving to small towns to get their tests done.

Gallaway said the situation has since improved, but he believes it was all avoidable.

"There was a failed privatization scheme," he said.

"We saw Dynalife unable to deliver the services. We saw huge wait times, and now we're seeing the public system clean up the mess."

Gallaway hopes the government has learned from the situation.

"These critical health-care services like labs should be provided through the public system, and we're seeing that success happen," he said.

But he still has questions about the financial impact of the transfer to and from Dynalife.

"Never throughout this are we being told how much that cost or will cost us."

Alberta Precision Labs said it has been able to reduce in-clinic wait times to an average of just under 29 minutes for both scheduled and walk-in appointments

Calgary's new southeast lab, located at 2110-1800 194th Ave. S.E., is the 24th clinic in the city and takes appointments from from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

A memorandum of understanding — outlining the transfer of Dynalife's staff, operations and locations to APL — was signed in August.

The transfer back to APL is expected to be done by December.