LifeLabs, the largest medical lab provider in Ontario, is closing patient labs in 15 communities along with testing facilities in Ottawa, London and Thorold.

Hours of operation are also being cut at 53 locations, the company said in a questions and answers document posted on its website. The company said it is eliminating a total of 122 jobs.

“Over the last several years, we have demonstrated tremendous efficiency by managing a growing volume of patients resulting in service and inflationary pressures while at the same time operating within a constrained fiscal environment,” reads a statement signed by LifeLabs president and CEO Sue Paish.

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Hours of operation to be reduced at 53 other sites in province’s biggest lab chain.

Ontario’s largest medical laboratory company is shedding more than 100 staff and closing the doors of 15 patient service centres that collect and process patient samples such as blood and urine.

Toronto-based LifeLabs announced last week its plan to also reduce hours of operations at 53 other collection sites. Laboratory testing facilities in Thorold, London and Ottawa — where samples are analyzed — will close.

“While these kinds of operational decisions are never easy, we believe they are necessary,” LifeLabs CEO Sue Paish wrote on the company’s website. Most of the closures will take place in March and April.

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The Sarnia area’s two LifeLabs locations will not be impacted by downsizing announced by the Toronto-based company.

LifeLabs announced last week it will shed more than 100 staff and close 15 patient centres in Ontario.

The medical laboratory company also announced 53 of its collection sites will see hours of operation reduced.

In an email to BlackburnNews.com, LifeLabs Communications Manager Stephanie Sayer confirms local service centres on Exmouth St. in Sarnia and on Mara St. in Point Edward will not be affected.

She says there are no impacts “in terms of either consolidations or reduced hours.”

It’s expected most of the closures will take place in March and April, including testing facilities in London, Thorold and Ottawa.

The cuts come less than three years after LifeLabs acquired Mississauga-based CML Healthcare Inc. for $1.2-billion.

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A company that provides medical laboratory services is shutting down 15 patient services centres across the province.

In an open letter posted to its website, LifeLabs says it is consolidating patient service centres that are located near one another. Hours of operation are also being reduced at 53 other patient service centres where patients go to give blood and urine samples and have other testing done.

As part of the company’s consolidation efforts, testing facilities in Thorold, London and Ottawa will also be shut down. Samples previously sent to those facilities for testing will be sent to other Ontario facilities now, the company says.

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We’ve learned some more concrete numbers in the scaling down of the biggest medical laboratory company in Ontario.

Life Labs is reducing staff by about 100 and closing 15 patient centres in what a news release from the company calls a consolidation.

On February 23, Toronto’s LifeLabs posted a restructuring notice on it’s website, stating that testing facilities in Thorold, London and Ottawa would be casualties.

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Thorold Life Labs are among the sites named in the closure of some labs from Ontario’s largest medical labratory company.

Toronto-based Life Labs announcing it is shedding more than 100 staff and closing the doors of 15 patient service centres that collect and process patient samples.

Sites in Thorold, London and Ottawa are set to close.

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The recent unexplained closure of three medical laboratories in Dufferin has led to increased patient volumes at two remaining labs and long wait times for those requiring services.

The two remaining labs – one in Orangeville, the other in Shelburne owned by the same firm – have been a lot busier since other labs in the area shut down. Patients in Orangeville are waiting about two hours for blood work, while those in Shelburne are waiting upwards of an hour on an average day.

Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones is hoping to bring much needed medical laboratory services back to the riding. She brought up the matter last week at Queen’s Park, asking Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long Term Care, to restore funding to physician services in the budget. The government cuts in this area, she said, are resulting in cuts to essential services which people in Orangeville and across the province rely on.

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Hours of operation to be reduced at 53 other sites in province’s biggest lab chain

TORONTO — Ontario’s largest medical laboratory company is shedding more than 100 staff and closing the doors of 15 patient service centres that collect and process patient samples such as blood and urine.

Toronto-based LifeLabs announced earlier this week its plan to also reduce hours of operations at 53 other collection sites. Laboratory testing facilities in Thorold, London and Ottawa — where samples are analyzed — will close.

“While these kinds of operational decisions are never easy, we believe they are necessary,” LifeLabs chief executive officer Sue Paish wrote on the company’s website Tuesday. A majority of the closures will take place in March and April.

In an interview, Paish said the changes are part of an efficiency effort to cope with mounting costs, cutbacks in government funds and a higher volume of patients.

Read the full article on TheRecord.com

Ontario’s system for funding private medical laboratories has been controversial since it was set up almost two decades ago.

Now, facing critics who have only gotten louder, the government may be considering reform. In her mandate letter after last year’s election, Premier Kathleen Wynne asked Health Minister Eric Hoskins to “explore opportunities to optimize quality and value in community laboratories.”

‘Community’ or ‘outpatient’ lab tests are ordered by doctors and nurse practitioners and include everything from blood sugar to kidney function to pregnancy tests. Across Canada, there are many different models for delivering these tests, involving public and for-profit providers.

In Ontario, a set number of government dollars is divided among seven companies. (The Ministry of Health hasn’t licensed a new private outpatient lab provider since the 1970s.) The government pays each company per test but decides the maximum amount of money each corporation can receive in a year. This cap is based on the company’s market share in 1996. We spoke to four laboratory executives and all said they always exceed their cap. >>Read the article at HealthyDebate.ca

A coalition of small medical laboratories is trying to block the creation of a “mega-lab,” warning it would be a bad deal for patients and taxpayers

A coalition of small medical laboratories, led by former Liberal leadership contender Gerard Kennedy, is trying block the creation of a “mega-lab” in Ontario, warning it would be a bad deal for patients and taxpayers.

The group wants the province to reject a proposed $1.2-billion takeover of CML Healthcare by LifeLabs, a deal it warns would turn what are already two of the largest labs in Ontario into a virtual monopoly.

“It would shortchange taxpayers” and be harmful to health care, said Kennedy. In February, the former MP and MPP became CEO of Alpha Healthcare/Alpha Laboratories, one of the members of the coalition.

Read the full article on TheStar.com