Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas continues to raise concerns about what she says is the unacceptable level of service from Lifelabs, the privately owned medical lab service that operates several locations in Sudbury.
As the NDP health critic in the official opposition role, Gélinas brought the issue back to the Ontario Legislature on March 2.
She rose during Members' Statements at Queen's Park to comment on what she termed the "poor performance" of the company. Despite having several locations in Sudbury, it is still the only medical lab service available to the public.
"LifeLabs is the only lab provider in all of Sudbury and Nickel Belt. It is a private, for-profit lab. Their poor performance is having a ripple effect on our entire health care system,” Gélinas said. “Specialists do not want to discharge patients from our hospital, and many patients have to reschedule their long-awaited specialist appointments because of problems with LifeLabs."
She added that the company website was not always reliable, nor was the company call centre.
"If you are lucky enough to get through, there will be no appointments available whatsoever for weeks on end. Once you show up for your long-awaited lab appointment, there is still a chance that you will get there and they will be closed," Gélinas told the house.
She has raised the issue in the legislature on previous occasions owing to several complaints from Sudbury residents.
As she concluded her statement Gélinas asked the health minister to intervene to resolve the problem.
"Minister, at a minimum, recognize the price our healthcare system is paying by allowing LifeLabs to continue to fail us all. During a pandemic, people’s lives and health hang in the balance," said Gélinas.
