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Medical testing is about as essential as health-care services come. Accurate diagnoses hinge on timely, precise lab results. Former AHS CEO Vickie Kaminski said in 2014 that the Edmonton-area alone generates about 27 million tests a year.

One can argue the merits of Hoffman’s previous decision to keep AHS laundry services in-house to protect 140 jobs, even though it will mean as much as $200 million to upgrade laundry facilities.

But there is great logic, as well as the potential for greater efficiency, to have northern Alberta’s lab systems under a single public umbrella when the rest of province already operates in that fashion.

The current system traces back to the early 1990s when regional health authorities were ordered to cut lab spending. Most of Edmonton’s hospital labs also were privatized at the time, but that move was reversed in 2005. All of Calgary’s lab services also shifted back to public control in 2006.

Most patients are probably indifferent about whether their medical tests are processed by a public entity or a private company as long as they get the crucial medical answers they need fast.

That said, Albertans ought to hear a clear plan articulated for how AHS can make this transfer work in a way that is cost-effective. It would be horrible for a $50-million deal (with $15 million added in over the next five years for equipment upgrades) to turn into a costly boondoggle.

The five years of lead-up time built into the deal should offer enough time for careful planning. This gives health officials ample opportunity to avoid missteps and tackle the pressing issue of a new lab testing facility for the Edmonton area.

It doesn’t matter what name appears on the lab letterhead, provided Albertans feel no pain in the transfer.

Editorials are the consensus opinion of the Journal’s editorial board, comprising Mark Iype, Dave Breakenridge, Sarah O’Donnell and David Evans.