October 3, 2022
Beginning Dec. 5, several in-hospital and urgent care labs will shift their focus to the needs of emergency, inpatient and ambulatory patients, and will direct community patients to labs in the community.
These include labs at:
North Zone
Edmonton Zone
Central Zone
Calgary Zone
All Albertans can continue to access lab services at their local community laboratory sites. Visit the Alberta Precision Laboratories web page for a list of current community labs.
This change is being implemented only in areas where community lab collection sites are already operating. In most cases, the nearest community site is within two kilometres of an acute care centre.
This is one step towards the larger transition of community lab services from Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) to DynaLIFE Medical Laboratories. By transitioning community lab services to DynaLIFE, APL will be better able to maintain lab quality and provide a more efficient, effective and sustainable laboratory system that supports Alberta’s ever-growing demand for lab testing.
As clients are currently able to book appointments 90 days in advance, clients looking to schedule an appointment in a hospital facility to take place after Dec. 5 will no longer see appointments available at the above noted hospital sites, effective Oct. 4. Walk-in patients who arrive at a hospital lab after Dec. 5 will be re-directed to a nearby community lab site.
Hospital laboratories will continue to serve immunocompromised patients by physician or clinic referral only.
APL is a wholly owned subsidiary of AHS, delivering high-quality, responsive diagnostic lab services to Albertans across our healthcare system.
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.
