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11 LifeLabs locations temporarily closed in B.C. due to 'severe employee impacts'

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Nearly a dozen LifeLabs locations in B.C. are temporarily closed as the spread of COVID-19 is impacting staffing.

The company said in an advisory Wednesday that 11 of its patient service centres were temporarily closing for at least two weeks because of "the spread of Omicron and related protocols which have resulted in severe employee impacts." Another five locations have adjusted their hours.

LifeLabs said it will monitor the situation over the next two weeks and provide updates as needed.

"This change was implemented to maintain consistent and reliable service for our customers and reduce increased pressure on our teams," a statement from LifeLabs said.

"To maintain service in the community, we will be re-deploying affected staff (from those sites) to nearby, central locations. Customers and health-care providers will be re-directed to those nearby locations."

Stephanie Smith, the president of the B.C. General Employees Union, which represents most Lifelabs workers, said workloads at the locations that remain open "are just going to increase exponentially." 

"We can expect to see waiting times for testing, and the public labs – those within hospitals – are going to be feeling that crunch as well," Smith said.

Vancouver family physician Dr. Rhonda Low said some patients who test regularly may decide to forego their weekly lab visits rather than looking for scarce appointments at remaining locations, or waiting for hours as a walk in.

“These community lab closures will limit the patients ability to get diagnostic testing, which negatively affects their care. And at this point, patients may have to go to the hospital lab to get their blood work done if it’s actually necessary, and we are worried then thats going to overwhelm the hospital system,” said Low.

To prevent further closures, Smith said the province needs to do everything in its power to protect front-line essential lab workers.

“That includes everything from improved ventilation (to) capacity limits being reinforced. We know some of them have been lightened up. We want to see our members have access to PPE, N95s or K95s. We know the science says Omicron is airborne and people need to be protected from getting it,” said Smith.

Health-care facilities across B.C. are being impacted by staffing shortages and the province's top doctor warned earlier this month that businesses should prepare to have one third of their employees calling in sick at a time. 

"We need to adapt businesses so we can operate at these reduced numbers," Dr. Bonnie Henry said in early January

The following LifeLabs locations are temporarily closed:

  • 180 Keefer St., Vancouver
  • 943 West Broadway, Vancouver
  • 888 West 8th Ave., Vancouver
  • 1200 Lynn Valley Rd., North Vancouver
  • 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond
  • 6051 Gilbert Rd., Richmond
  • 9639 137A St., Surrey
  • 12195 Harris Rd., Pitt Meadows
  • 321 Nicola St., Kamloops
  • 650 Fort St., Victoria
  • 1641 Hillside, Victoria

These locations have adjusted their hours. Details on those changes can be found on the LifeLab's website

  • 2061 West 42nd Ave., Vancouver
  • 1200 Burrard St., Vancouver
  • 33498 Bevan Ave., Abbotsford
  • 1590 Cedar Hill Cross Rd., Victoria
  • 582 Goldstream, Victoria 

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