Dynacare super site opens in Transcona

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This article was published 06/11/2020 (1882 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new Dynacare “super site” opened recently in Transcona.

On Nov. 2, the new facility, which provides blood collection and urinalysis services and aims to serve between 300 and 400 patients daily, opened to the public at 3-1581 Regent Ave. W. 

“The intent was to improve customer experience, and employee experience,” explained Dr. Jenisa Naidoo, medical director for Dynacare Manitoba. “To make it more accessible and to see patients in a timely manner.”

Currently, Dynacare owns all the facilities outside of hospital labs in Winnipeg that provide blood collection and urinalysis services. The company operates 31 locations and five super sites in Manitoba. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, though, 14 sites have been closed, as they are unable to meet social-distancing requirements. 

“With COVID, there have been challenges,” Naidoo admitted, adding that the new sites have been designed with social distancing — for both patients and staff — in mind.

The Regent location has 20 chairs spaced throughout the waiting room, each with a plexiglass barrier between them. Separate cubicles for tests are spaced throughout as well, so up to seven blood tests can be done at a time. Like other Dynacare labs, it is open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., but also on Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to noon. 

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“We didn’t have previously weekend hours, so patients who work Monday to Friday have access on weekends,” Naidoo said. “We have more staff, more sites to draw blood from.”

A new super site is also expected to open later this month at 103-1455 Henderson Hwy. Naidoo said the Henderson site will be comparable to Regent, in layout and capacity. The two supersites are expected to reduce wait times for patients at nearby Dynacare collection centres, located at 701 Regent Ave. W, 1210 Rothesay St., and a “pop-up” location at 1400 Henderson Hwy.

“It’s a big change for that area,” Naidoo said. “Now, patients will have options.”

While the new super sites will operate as drop-in centres, Naidoo said Dynacare is exploring adding an option for patients to book appointments for blood tests. If implemented, such a system could help reduce wait times at peak hours of the day, particularly early in the day when people stop in on the way to work.

“If patients come at the same time, that’s when you get the lineup, the queuing comes in,” Naidoo said. “We encourage patients to check online to see about average wait times. If you do get to the site and there’s a wait, we can text you, so you can wait in the car rather than the waiting room.”

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112

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