Access to medical labs.

As of late in our riding there's been a bit of an uproar concerning the closure of medical labs in Stayner, Elmvale, and Tottenham. Leading the fight is the local PC, MPP Jim Wilson - http://www.jimwilsonmpp.com

These labs are private businesses who are licensed by the Ministry of Health to perform services like blood work, ECG's, and take Urine samples. These labs are paid a fee for each service they perform by the Province. Currently their are 3 companies in Ontario who have the right to perform these services, and they are Lifelabs, Gamma-Dynacare, and I don't have the name of the third company at this time, but they don't operate in our riding. Gamma-Dynacare was the company that operated in Tottenham, and they were forced to leave their previous location because a dispute with their landlord over a rent increase. They have since announced that they have secured another location and will be opening again in Tottenham.

Lifelabs who used to operate in Stayner and Elmvale shut down their locations due to the lack of business in these towns. They currently operate locations in Wasaga Beach and Collingwood. The Wasaga Beach location is expanding due to an increase in business, which is a direct result of the closure of their labs in Stayner and Elmvale. Lifelabs has said that they intend to re-open on a temporary bases the lab in Stayer until February for a few days a week.

After doing a bit of research on this subject I was able to find out that Lifelabs provides a pick-up service at local doctors offices in our riding to pick up blood and urine samples. They then take them back to their labs and prepare a report for the doctors. Now what this means is that your local doctor has to, or wants to take blood samples and have them picked up. To me, if I was in my doctors office and he was in a position to take samples I would rather have him/her do it instead of going to a lab in another town, and taking more time off work, or spending more money for taxi cabs. This seems to be one side of the on-going battle that does not get mentioned by either Mr. Wilson or the Ministry of Health.

Now Mr. Wilson has suggested that the Provincial government revoke the licenses of Lifelabs unless they open the closed labs on a full time bases. To me this is just playing politics by telling a private company that unless you do what I say I will shut you down. If the PC's form the next government will they revoke the license of Lifelabs? I don't think so because if they did where would all the people across Ontario who rely on their services go? They would be forced to go to a local hospital and wait in the emergency room to have blood work done.

What the Province should do is allow more companies to come into the Ontario market to provide these services. They should pay these companies an incentive to set-up shop in rural Ontario where the big companies refuse to go. Another idea is as they control the licenses of these companies the Province should set-up zones and sell in an open bidding process the licenses to operate in these zones with a requirement that they must set-up shop in underserviced areas of the Province.

I will give Mr. Wilson credit for really taking this issue and running with it, and I know he will use this against the Liberals in our riding during the 2011 election. I for one would not want to be a Liberal running in Simcoe-Grey in 2011.

Until next time!