Alberta Precision Laboratories is bringing lab services closer to home

Jul 22

Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) has opened a new patient service centre inside the Stelmach Community Health Centre, giving patients in southeast Edmonton a modern, accessible place to complete their lab work close to home.

As the sole provider of lab services across Alberta, APL plays a part in nearly every diagnosis a patient receives. Now that work happens under the same roof as the clinics, primary care and diagnostic imaging patients are already visiting in Mill Woods.

A career built on science and people

Jolene Sherwin is the director of patient service centres for the Edmonton area and the north part of the province, a portfolio that covers 35 locations. She has worked in lab for about 28 years, including time in the private sector with DynaLIFE before joining APL as the province moved to one lab provider.

Two things drew her to the field.

"I've always been interested in the science behind lab. I find it very fascinating," Jolene says. "But I also am very attracted to and was drawn into this kind of a role because I love dealing with people. I spent a lot of time working on the front line with patients."

Like many people who work in health care, Jolene has seen the importance of lab work up close in her own family. Her aging parents have moved through the health system, and her young kids have had serious medical issues that relied on lab as part of getting a diagnosis.

"Sometimes people forget about the fact that lab really is involved in almost every diagnosis that people receive," she says. "Lab does a lot of behind the scenes work to help people on their health journeys."

A new kind of relationship with Covenant

APL already had a long-standing relationship with Covenant, providing acute care lab services at hospitals like the Misericordia and the Grey Nuns. The Stelmach Community Health Centre is different. It’s APL's first outpatient service delivered inside a Covenant location of this kind.

The clinics that moved to the centre serve outpatients and take some pressure off the hospital. Many of those visits involve a trip to the lab.

"We know that a lot of those outpatient interactions also involve a trip to the lab, whether it's the diabetes clinic, pre-op clinics, some of the cardiac care being delivered," Jolene says. "We're often the next step for them. It really makes sense to have us all under one roof."

What APL offers at the centre

You do not need to see a provider in the building to use the lab. The service centre is open to all community outpatients who have a requisition from their doctor.

Staff can collect blood and urine samples, and they offer take-home collection devices for specimens that need to be collected at home. The team also performs electrocardiograms (ECGs) on site.

Patients can book an appointment up to three months in advance or come in as a walk-in. Wait times are posted on the APL website and on a screen outside the front door. A Save My Place feature lets patients check in as a walk-in from home before they arrive.

"It lets you do things like maybe stop in for your x-ray on your way by or grab that cup of coffee before you come up and know that you've got your spot in line held," Jolene says.

*Team members on opening day of the new patient service centre at the Stelmach Community Health Centre.*

Convenience that adds up

For Jolene, the biggest benefit for patients is convenience. One trip can cover several appointments, which matters for anyone who has to arrange transportation or bring a family member along for support.

APL runs on ConnectCare, the same medical record system the other providers use. A physician at the Veres Family Health Clinic can order lab tests during a visit, and the patient can walk down the hall to a team that already has the information ready.

APL also supports the clinics behind the scenes. Even when a patient does not visit the service centre, a swab or specimen collected in one of the clinics gets picked up by APL courier runs and taken to the testing department downtown, with results sent back to providers quickly.

Room to grow in a growing community

Southeast Edmonton has grown fast, and APL had outgrown its previous space in Milbourne Mall. The new location has free parking, a transit centre right behind the building and shops, clinics and a recreation centre nearby.

The footprint is larger than the space it replaces, with a more spacious waiting room and more collection facilities. Privacy shaped much of the design. The centre added bariatric furniture it did not have before and more room for pediatric patients and family groups.

"This is such a beautiful building, and we think that patients will enjoy the calm environment it offers."

Part of a new model of care

At their new home in the Stelmach Community Health Centre, APL expects to see up to about 300 patients a day, and the team is ready for that number to climb as demand grows.

Jolene sees APL as a natural fit for this community-based model of care.

"APL is focused on patient-centered care, and this really aligns with that," she says. "It's all about the patient experience for us, their comfort as well as their convenience."