EDMONTON—A group representing lab technologists and assistants across Canada says it’s concerned about the future of medical lab work in Alberta now that the Edmonton “superlab” project is officially cancelled.

Representatives from the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Sciences (CSMLS) visited Edmonton on Wednesday to deliver a public message to Alberta’s United Conservative government — the cancellation of the lab must be followed by an alternative plan, and fast.

CSMLS CEO Christine Nielsen said medical laboratories in Edmonton are aging and are in dire need of investment to address growing gaps that are putting the health care of Albertans at risk.

“Cancelling (the Edmonton superlab) leaves the state of Alberta’s medical laboratories at an untenable level,” Joel Rivero, CSMLS director for Alberta, told reporters Wednesday morning.

The United Conservatives cancelled the $595-million Edmonton “superlab” in June, fulfilling a promise the party made months prior on the campaign trail. Health Minister Tyler Shandro called the lab “expensive and disruptive” and “ideologically driven” by the previous Alberta NDP government.

The project was intended to bring existing laboratories and staff under one roof to process the more than 30 million medical tests done in the province every year. It was to be on the University of Alberta’s south campus, and was announced by the previous Alberta NDP government in 2016 under then-health minister Sarah Hoffman. The province has already spent $23 million on the project, but construction has since been halted.

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Rivero said the “superlab” was to bring “much-needed relief” on a growingly strained medical lab system in the province. The lab was intended to serve not only the Edmonton region, but the more remote and rural northern parts of the province as well.

“With no current alternative plan for the future of Alberta’s health-care system accompanying the hub lab cancellation, we have a strong concern that patient safety will suffer as a result,” Rivero said.

According to Nielsen, 70 per cent of the lab equipment that is currently being used has been outdated as of 2012. She added physical space for some laboratories is limited, making it difficult to fit in large equipment needed to do specific kinds of medical testing on samples provided by patients.

“Our staff have no option but to share cramped workspaces with several employees for months, sometimes resorting to changing laboratories due to limits on space,” Nielsen said. “All of these restrictions are costly inefficiencies ultimately paid for by Alberta taxpayers and patients waiting for life-altering results.”

But the provincial government says the problems outlined by the CSMLS aren’t as dire as they seem.

“Albertans see the labs for themselves every day and they can see the labs do a great job, with no undue delays for routine collections and processing,” Shandro said.

Shandro doubled down on the government’s view that the “superlab” was ideologically motivated by the NDP, and said the previous government used the project to replace DynaLife, a private company that currently conducts medical lab tests in the province, in an attempt at “nationalizing lab services.”

As a provincial budget looms this fall, Shandro said he is working on identifying priorities on where investments toward the province’s lab services should go. He will also be meeting with representatives from the CSMLS in August, where both parties said they hope to discuss the best path moving forward to address gaps in the system now that the project is cancelled.

Steve Buick, spokesperson for Shandro, said the minister hopes the CSMLS will approach the meeting in good faith.

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“If they want to use it to promote the same messages from the presser today … then it’s not likely to be a very productive meeting,” Buick said in an email.

Both Nielsen and Rivero said the priority of their group is to ensure an alternative plan is put in place to address the growing infrastructure gaps medical laboratories in the city are now dealing with. Nielsen said many projects and contracts have been put on hold with the promise of the new superlab.

“Our focus is to ensure this isn’t forgotten, because time is ticking,” Rivero said.

Clarification - July 25, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version to include that CSMLS represents both lab technologists as well as lab assistants.

Nadine Yousif is a reporter/photographer for Star Edmonton. Follow her on twitter: @nadineyousif_

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