Alberta auditor general to examine failed community lab testing privatization program

EDMONTON — Alberta’s auditor general says he will investigate what went wrong with the United Conservative Party government’s abandoned plan to privatize community lab testing provincewide.

Doug Wylie’s office says in a statement Friday that he will examine procurement and contracting processes.

He plans to make a report available early next year.

Alberta’s Opposition NDP had asked Wylie to investigate the deal, saying Premier Danielle Smith’s government cannot be trusted to determine or divulge what went wrong.

In August, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange cancelled the handling of community lab testing by private provider Dynalife after months of complaints of long wait times and service bottlenecks in Calgary and the southern region.

LaGrange said the province has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dynalife to transfer its staff, equipment and property to the province by the end of the year.

NDP health critic David Shepherd said in a statement Friday that he's encouraged that Albertans will get "some answers on how and why the UCP caused so much damage to the health care we rely on."

“The catastrophic failure of lab privatization is a dire warning to Albertans for the next UCP gamble with our health care," he said.

Alberta Health spokesperson Charlotte Taillon responded in a statement.

"The delays Albertans experienced to access lab services have been unacceptable," wrote Taillon.

"We explored all options to resolve the delays in testing and did what was necessary to make sure Albertans have reliable and speedy access to lab services now and into the future. All parties involved mutually supported this decision.

"This is within the role of the auditor general to investigate and Alberta Health and (Alberta Health Services) will fully co-operate with the investigation."

Dynalife has run lab testing in Edmonton and northern Alberta for more than two decades.

It expanded service to the rest of the province late last year under contract to the province on the promise of an expected $18 million to $36 million in annual savings.

Under the deal, Dynalife operations will be taken over by Alberta Precision Laboratories, which is part of Alberta Health Services, the province's health-care provider.

Alberta Precision Laboratories normally handles lab tests in hospitals and urgent care centres and in remote locations where there is no community lab testing available.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2023.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press