Submitted by South Bruce Grey Health Centre

Beginning Thursday, March 28, outpatient laboratory services will move from the Kincardine hospital to the Kincardine Family Health Team.

Patients with a requisition for blood work can now go to the Hawthorne Community Clinic, located on the same property as the hospital, to have their samples collected, the South Bruce Grey Health Centre announced on Monday.

The transition of this service is part of SBGHC Budget Recovery Action Plan, which was released in late January. SBGHC is facing a significant financial challenge this year, health centre officials said in a media release, and since the hospital does not receive funding for outpatient laboratory testing, SBGHC is moving this lab testing to a private community laboratory which is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Laboratory testing for inpatients and emergency patients will remain in the hospital.

The new partnership between SBGHC and the Kincardine Family Health Team will allow hospital laboratory staff to continue to collect samples from patients at the Hawthorne Community Clinic, making it relatively seamless for patients. The samples collected will be sent to Life Labs for processing. Patients will benefit from being able to access their own lab results online through Life Labs.

The hours of operation for laboratory services at the Hawthorne Community Clinic will be enhanced to better serve patients.

Beginning March 25, outpatient collections will be available from 7:30 a.m. until 3 p.m., Monday to Friday. After April 1, hours will be extended to 3:30 p.m.

SBGHC’s Kincardine site is the first of the hospital organization’s four sites to make this transition for community outpatient laboratory services. The transition dates for the Chesley, Durham and Walkerton hospital sites will be finalized in the coming weeks.