DynaLife will no longer provide community lab services in Alberta.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said an agreement in principle has been reached with the ownership of DynaLIFE that will see the lab service provider transfer all staff, operations and physical locations in the province to Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL).
LaGrange made the announcement at an Aug.18 press conference in Red Deer.
“This change is necessary to make sure Albertans can get their lab work done when and where they need it, and get timely results,” LaGrange said.
The Province said delays and wait times are making it difficult to access lab services provided by DynaLIFE.
“The majority of the complaints and the issues that we saw were in the Calgary region, particularly, and also further south,” LaGrange said.
The transfer from DynaLIFE to APL will take place in phases and be completed by the end of the year, she said.
It's not immediatley clear what the situation will look like in Okotoks, but LaGrange said no significant changes to lab access are expected and existing appointments will not be affected.
In Okotoks, routine community lab services had been provided by APL at the urgent care centre, until those services were transferred to DynaLIFE at a new location on Southridge Drive in late 2022.
At the time, an AHS spokesperson told Great West Media that the change would not lead to reduced levels of service.
Months after it opened, DynaLIFE in Okotoks came under fire as wait times for routine lab work climbed to six or seven weeks.
DynaLIFE responded by making more weekday appointments available beginning in May, and by opening on weekends starting in July, leading to local improvements in appointment availability.
The Province said when DynaLIFE took over routine lab work in late 2022, APL continued to operate in hospitals, urgent care centres and in rural communities without a community lab.
LaGrange did not provide a cost of the change, saying final details of the agreement are being worked out.
When the change to DynaLIFE from APL was announced, the Province said it would save anywhere from $18 million to $36 million annually.
