Critical-in-opposition NDP extends Dynacare lab monopoly for year

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THE Kinew government isn’t rushing to break up a private monopoly on blood tests and urinalysis in Winnipeg after criticizing the consolidation of laboratories and the for-profit delivery of essential health services while in opposition.

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This article was published 06/02/2024 (614 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Kinew government isn’t rushing to break up a private monopoly on blood tests and urinalysis in Winnipeg after criticizing the consolidation of laboratories and the for-profit delivery of essential health services while in opposition.

The provincial government has extended its contract with Dynacare to provide community laboratory services for one year, a spokesperson confirmed Monday.

The Ontario-based company’s agreement with Manitoba Health was set to expire at the end of March, with fee-for-service billings forecast to cost taxpayers $41.5 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Winnipeg Free Press Files
                                The provincial government has extended its contract with Dynacare to provide community laboratory services for one year.

Winnipeg Free Press Files

The provincial government has extended its contract with Dynacare to provide community laboratory services for one year.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the extension was necessary to ensure routine blood work and other diagnostic tests continue without disruption while the government weighs its options for lab services going forward.

Asagwara wasn’t willing to discuss the NDP’s plans Monday, but did not rule out bringing community laboratory services into the public sector.

“I’m not going to get ahead of myself and speak on decisions that haven’t been made yet,” Asagwara said.

“There’s work, really important work, thoughtful work, that needs to be done to make a decision that improves health care, improves services and that makes it clear to Manitobans that they are our top priority.”

Dynacare became the sole provider of community-based specimen collection and analysis services for Winnipeg in 2018, after it acquired Unicity Laboratory and X-Ray Services in December 2017.

Hospital-based labs are the responsibility of Shared Health, the provincial health authority, which oversees all public-sector laboratories and diagnostic imaging centres.

Dynacare subsequently shuttered 21 lab locations followed by a second round of closures that consolidated 25 labs into four “super sites” in Winnipeg. The company currently advertises 14 locations in Winnipeg and 21 provincewide.

The province has paid Dynacare more than $153.8 million since 2018. It is a subsidiary of the life-sciences company Labcorp, which reported $14.9 billion in revenue in 2022.

Its contract with the province is capped at about $44 million annually, notwithstanding the total number of tests conducted, according to the government.

The company declined to comment Monday and deferred questions to Manitoba Health.

In opposition, the NDP regularly spoke against the consolidation of labs, arguing seniors were paying the price because they could no longer access lab services at their local doctors’ office or neighbourhood clinic.

The party also pushed the former Progressive Conservative government — which the NDP defeated in the Oct. 3 election — to invest in the public health system, stating “profit has no place in our hospitals and health-care centres.”

Asagwara said accessing labs continues to be a challenge for some Manitobans and acknowledged there is room for improvement, but gave no indication of what the NDP may do to address past concerns.

“There are several options to be explored and I’m open to looking at different options with the top priority being that the services that are in place for Manitobans are convenient, reliable and timely,” the health minister said.

“I want to make sure that seniors in our communities can go see their primary-care provider and also get their lab work done in a way that meets their needs.”

Manitoba Health Coalition board member Molly McCracken said expanded public-sector lab services must be considered.

“For-profit health-care delivery is more costly and has many attendant problems,” McCracken said.

“Dynacare, for example, now has a monopoly on blood and urine testing in Winnipeg, outside of hospitals, which runs counter to the theoretical argument for privatization — competition.”

The MHC advocates for universal public health care and has several labour organizations among its members.

McCracken said the NDP could follow the lead of the United Conservative Party-led government in Alberta, which recently announced it would move community lab testing out of the private sector.

“We recognize it takes time to change health-care delivery,” McCracken said. “Manitoba needs a plan to deliver laboratory services publicly and move rapidly in that direction at the end of this one-year extension.”

Opposition health critic Kathleen Cook urged the government to prioritize timely service to patients over ideology as it decides how to move forward with lab services.

“The most important consideration in any decision around community laboratory services is the impact on patient care,” Cook said.

Interim Manitoba Liberal leader Cindy Lamoureux called on the NDP to launch a public consultation before inking any new, long-term agreements.

“Manitoba Liberals are supportive of preserving what works well, but the government must consider Manitobans with the greatest needs being able to access these same services in an equitable manner,” she said.

The yearlong contract extension with Dynacare will give the NDP time to consult widely and conduct the necessary due diligence on the future of diagnostic testing, Asagwara said.

“And, to again, allow for our government to take the time to look at the options we have available that will prioritize the people of this province having improved access to lab services and to listen to what their needs are right now, and what they want things to look like to meet their needs in the future,” Asagwara said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

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