Doctors at Medicine Hat say long wait times for lab tests are adding to the strain on hospitals.
DynaLife, a private company, took over community lab services in the South Zone at the end of February after being awarded a contract with Alberta Health Services (AHS).
Due to ongoing concerns in Calgary and the surrounding area, and having previously transitioned to a new service provider, AHS has promised to rectify the wait times.
Medicine Hat currently has only one community lab, and routine check-up appointments are typically booked at least a month in advance.
“It was a pretty rough transition,” says Dr. Jerry Prince, family physician at Medicine Hat.
“Maybe a day or two isn’t unreasonable. A week or two is really the limit. A month is unacceptable.”
According to Prince, it’s hard on patients. Some tests can wait, he said, while others cannot.
And he said some of the sub-emergency patients who previously could have had access to timely testing in the community are being sent to Medicine Hat Regional Hospital’s emergency department.
“They need a heart trace, they need a blood test. They need to get it back today or tomorrow. When they go to the lab for it, the lab takes them [emergency] To get that done, it’s a huge burden that an emergency doesn’t have to bear,” Prince said.
“It’s just expanding the number of patients who don’t have to go there.”
Dr. Paul Parks, an ER doctor at Medicine Hat, has never seen anything like it.
“Quite simply put, it’s very bad for patients,” he said.
“If lab tests need to be done in four to five days, it will cease to exist and all will be transferred to the emergency department.”
According to Parks, the situation has worsened in recent weeks. He sees patients sent to his ER by both his family doctor and his DynaLife.
“We see people presenting to us who are really frustrated and upset. [ER] Being stable, I have no doubt that my eyesight will be deteriorating, but I have a request for blood from the attending doctor.and they have to wait in a queue [and] Get triaged, wait to see the emergency doctor, and get the blood work done,” he said.
“This is in direct contrast to the state’s current mandate in that it seeks to reduce the volume and flow of emergency departments.”
Recruiting
Five patients have gone to Medicine Hat ER for testing in the past week, according to AHS.
“DynaLife is working hard to improve wait times and is actively recruiting new staff to fill existing vacancies at Medicine Hat Labs,” spokesperson Kerry Williamson said on Monday. said in an emailed statement.
“Today, 80% of patients who visit our Medicine Hat Labs are served within 40 minutes, and we are working to improve this service time.”
AHS says the lab has more than 20 employees, two more are in training, and DynaLife is working to find more.
Williamson warns that going to the emergency room is not a shortcut to testing services. Patients should wait for evaluation by an ER physician before performing the test.
waiting time at ” [ER] Patients who come in for non-urgent visits, such as accessing testing services, may experience longer wait times than usual,” he said.
AHS encourages patients to use the virtual “save my space” option. This notifies people when walk-in appointments are available so they don’t have to wait at the clinic.
Patients needing an urgent appointment can also call the appointment line at 1-877-702-4486, Williamson said.
Monday’s search did not find any Medicine Hat appointments until the first week of June. On Tuesday, the same search identified appointments for the week.
Prince said that while there are early signs of improvement, there are other impacts to worry about.
Some patients are being tested in smaller communities such as Brooks and Bow Island, he said. Because you can be hospitalized more quickly.
“[It’s] to the point of overloading the system. They don’t have staff and they don’t handle that kind of volume. ”
And he said there was a delay in receiving urgent test results because samples were being sent to Calgary for processing.
For example, I got a late-night phone call about a patient who had very high blood sugar about 12 hours after completing a test. According to him, on the old system, tests were processed locally within hours.
“At 3 a.m., I don’t have much ability to fix it. The way the system is designed, this will continue to be a problem,” Prince said.
“We need to improve our system.”