Long lab wait times continue for patients in Medicine Hat under the operation of DynaLIFE (Photo Courtesy Ross Lavigne)

By Brendan Miller

Long lab wait times continue for patients in Medicine Hat

May 9, 2023 | 5:09 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Patients needing blood work in Medicine Hat continue to experience long wait times.

DynaLIFE took over operations in February and the location on Carry Drive is the only community lab in the city. The in-hospital laboratory only serves patients who have a requisition generated at the hospital or an urgent care facility.

In March, DynaLIFE told CHAT News short-term staffing shortages were to blame for long wait times and that the company is actively looking to fill any empty positions. At the same time DynaLIFE said they expected to have those positions filled within a couple weeks.

This afternoon, CHAT News spoke with several patients accessing the lab to find out if wait times are improving.

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“Yeah actually I think it’s getting kind of worse, the wait times because I was here early this morning and I was here for a couple of hours and I just got done. So yeah I would say it is getting worse,” said a woman leaving the lab.

“It’s the only place we have. I mean if we had more places for us to go to. We used to have more places and they made it so we only have one place and so it makes it more difficult,” explained a woman entering the lab.

Another patient told CHAT News the lab can be a hectic place to wait.

“There were a lot of people waiting. I don’t think there were any more seats available. There is also no ticket system so there is no way you could get a ticket and sit down and then come up when you’re ready. You had to stand there the whole time.”

DynaLIFE provided the following statement from chief executive officer Jason Pincock.

“DynaLIFE is working hard to improve wait times and is actively recruiting new staff to fill existing vacancies at the Medicine Hat 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. In fact, we have updated our appointment schedule based on community feedback.”

Alberta Health Services says there are more than 20 employees currently working at the lab, and more are being trained.