Roughly five jobs will be lost at the Westlock Healthcare Centre as the provincial government has cut lab services province-wide.
This June, Alberta Health Services (AHS) is transferring services for immunocemistry, microbiology, HbA1C and monitoring glycaemia from local sites to DynaLIFE Dx. That means a patient’s test results for things like strep throat, thyroid, PAP smears, chlamydia, gonorrhea, pregnancy and monitoring insulin in diabetics could be delayed by about a day or two while cultures are sent to city labs for analysis.
The effect on the community is deeper than the job losses, said mayor Bruce Lennon. There are 5.15 full-time equivalent positions being cut at the Westlock hospital.
“It will affect the people of Westlock in a number of ways,” Lennon said, adding he was concerned about the impact on patient care and the effect of associated job losses on the community.
Lab services and cultures will be collected locally and shipped off to Edmonton or Calgary-based labs. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing will be exclusively sent to the Alberta Provincial Laboratory North for analysis.
“It’s a situation here where they’re trying to privatize the health-care system and on the surface it may look like it’s saving a few dollars because they don’t have to put in some capital for expansions for the lab here in town — whether it’s equipment or the actual building, but that’s very short-term,” Lennon added.
“The long-term cost savings would be minimal, and more importantly, the patient’s safety is at risk. It could be catastrophic if it’s some type of infection that’s not treated quickly.”
AHS vice-president of lab services Tammy Hofer said patients will continue to receive their test results in a timely manner.
“There shouldn’t really be a change to what (patients) are currently receiving,” said Hofer.
“It’ll depend on the test. Some will take time, like microbiology, because it takes time for the bugs to grow. Obviously (patients) won’t have results the same day, but it will only be a little bit longer just by virtue of the test. It shouldn’t be different to what they currently receive.”
When asked how much money the transition of laboratory services from areas like Westlock, Wainright and Vermilion will save, Hofer replied that those figures are currently unavailable.
The decision to cut services was made without consultation with the town, county or even Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Maureen Kubinec.
“I’ve heard from a lot of people about this issue and I’ve had discussions with the mayor and one of the councillors, as well as the county,” Kubinec explained. “It’s been a very big topic this week.”
In fact, Kubinec is in the process of trying to orchestrate a meeting with Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne to discuss the changes.
“I understand there was no real consultation with the people in the lab or the doctors and of course I’m not happy about that,” said Kubinec. “I’m actually waiting to hear back from the minister on this. It’s a big issue in our community because we have what I consider to be an excellent reputation with our health care facility and anything that diminishes it, worries me and concerns me.”
