Hospital lab privatization has failed in the past. Previous Alberta governments have tried selling lab work to private businesses, only to reverse course after patient safety was compromised, and costs went up. The previous PC government pushed ahead with a contract to give lab services to companies with a history of overcharging, driving up health care costs and disputes with regulators and governments.
Now, the NDP government has to decide whether to continue this course of action, find a new contractor, or move the lab services in house.
A letter signed by sixteen pathologists at the University of Alberta Hospital makes it clear doctors see huge risks to patients and the public under this scheme.
Privately run health care delivers poorer quality services at a higher costs. Join the call to bring our hospital labs into a publicly delivered system.
