Several Alberta in-hospital and urgent care labs will shift their focus to emergency, in-patient, and ambulatory patients and direct other people elsewhere effective Dec. 5. .A Monday press release said these labs include: .North Zone.Grande Prairie Regional Hospital.Edmonton Zone.East Edmonton Health CentreFort Saskatchewan Community HospitalGrey Nuns Community HospitalLeduc Community HospitalMisericordia Community HospitalNortheast Community Health CentreRoyal Alexandra HospitalStrathcona County Health CentreSturgeon Community Hospital.Central Zone.Red Deer Regional HospitalCamrose St. Mary's Hospital.The release said all Albertans can continue to access lab services at their local sites. .The release went on to say this change is being implemented in areas where community lab collection sites are operating. In most cases, it said the nearest community site is within 2km of an acute care centre. .It said this move is one step towards the larger transition of community lab services from Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) to DynaLife Medical Labs. By transitioning community lab services to DynaLife, APL will be better able to maintain lab quality and provide a more efficient testing system. .Since clients are able to book appointments 90 days in advance, people looking to schedule an appointment in a hospital facility to take place after Dec. 5 will no longer see them available at these facilities effective Tuesday. Walk-in patients who arrive at a hospital lab after Dec. 5 will be redirected to a nearby community site..The release said hospital laboratories will continue to serve immunocompromised patients by physician or clinic referral. .Alberta Health Services (AHS) asked Albertans in February to delay non-urgent blood testing due to a temporary shortage of disposable vials used to collect samples across the province..READ MORE: AHS requesting pause of non-urgent blood testing due to vial shortage.“Supplies of the vials are tight globally due to ongoing shortages of medical-grade plastics, and AHS is experiencing a short-term supply shortage after a recent order was not filled by our primary supplier,” it said. .The shortage affects vials used for the most commonly ordered blood tests, including complete blood count, complete blood count with differential, and hemoglobin A1C.
