Dynalife ownership to transfer all staff, operations, physical labs to Alberta Precision Labs

Alberta's health minister says Alberta Health Services has signed a memorandum of understanding with the ownership of Dynalife, which will see the private provider transfer all of its staff, operations and physical locations in the province to the government-owned Alberta Precision Labs by the end of 2023.

"This change is necessary to make sure Albertans can get their lab work done when and where they need it and get timely results," Adriana LaGrange said.

The province says the work will be completed in phases, with the full transition expected to be complete by December. During the transition, lab testing will continue at the same locations. More appointments in Calgary and other areas will continue to be added as planned, the government said.

AHS announced in 2022 that it had expanded its contract with Dynalife, which already operated labs in Edmonton and some northern Alberta communities. Jason Copping, who was health minister at the time, touted the deal as a cost-saving measure, though labour and health advocacy groups were critical of the move.

AHS then proceeded between December 2022 and February 2023 to transfer operation to Dynalife of previously public community labs in Calgary and other places in southern Alberta. 

But over the past number of months, there have been concerns over long waits, sometimes as long as a month, to book appointments for routine tests, particularly in Calgary and southern Alberta.

Premier Danielle Smith previously tasked LaGrange to resolve "the unacceptable lab services delay challenge" across the province as part of her mandate letter, which was released in mid-July.

At the beginning of August, the province started taking more medical test appointments in-house, with Alberta Precision Laboratories offering hundreds of appointments in Calgary.

When asked what the costs would be to make the transition, LaGrange said there was a memorandum of understanding with Dynalife, but final details were still being worked out.

"That is not something that I can share. But as we move forward, we will be able to make that readily available to the public. We want to be transparent," she said.

In a statement, the Opposition NDP called the arrangement with Dynalife a "reckless experiment in privatization," characterizing the strategy as "pure incompetence."

In April, Dynalife's CEO Jason Pincock joined the Calgary Eyeopener to discuss why wait times for residents had ballooned to start the year.

"It's a very complex issue, but we are very committed to the Calgary region," he said at the time. "We are equally frustrated. It's not our normal to have these kinds of waits."

Fiona Clement, a professor who specializes in health policy in the department of community health sciences at the University of Calgary, said she was surprised to see the announcement given Dynalife's long history in Alberta.