Short-term staffing issues causing longer wait times at Medicine Hat laboratory

CHAT News spoke with several residents who were waiting outside the laboratory in their vehicles for up to two hours to receive walk-in service.

“So we got here as early as we can and we’re told about a minimum hour-and-a-half, two-hour wait to take some blood,” said one man.

“There’s a lineup from the desk to the door area, just inside there, and then the room is full too and the parking lot is full so I don’t even know if I wait, it’s a long time to stand and sit and I’ve only got the car for so long,” said a woman as she left the laboratory.

Even people with an appointment told CHAT News they are waiting up to half an hour to get their lab work done.

“There’s not a lot of seating, so the seating you kind of have to, otherwise you’re going to be doing a lot of standing and because you’re supposed to keep your space inside there right they can’t cramp everybody together,” said a man waiting for his appointment.

DynaLIFE’s CEO says they have been dealing with short-term staff shortages in Medicine Hat.

Jason Pincock says a number of staff went on leave before DynaLIFE took over operations.

DynaLIFE has had to bring in health-care workers from across the province to fill the void temporarily.

“We have a pretty amazing culture across the province and a pretty dedicated team and so we’ve had individuals from Red Deer, from Edmonton, from other parts of the province who have come down to Medicine Hat to help that team in Medicine Hat out,” says Pincock.

Moving forward, DynaLIFE says they are actively looking to fill the vacant positions with local medical workers.

“One of the things we are committed to is that we are staffing that site with individuals who work and live and are a part of the Medicine Hat community,” says Pincock.

DynaLIFE says they understand the frustration residents are feeling as they wait to see a health-care worker.

“We really ask that patients work with us as we challenge this short-term staffing gap. You know it’s our goal overall, we are investing in the community, we are investing in sites all across the province Medicine Hat is certainly part of that plan,” says Pincock.

“Ultimately we’d like to extend the hours in Medicine Hat but to do that we actually need to have the staff to be there to do those collections, so we are building that up,” says Pincock.

DynaLIFE says they hope to return to normal staff levels within a couple of weeks.

by Brendan Miller

Short-term staffing issues causing longer wait times at Medicine Hat laboratory

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