Island Health will be doubling the amount of hourly appointments for the outpatient lab at the Campbell River Hospital, starting on Tuesday.
The health authority will also change the hours for the lab, which will now be open Monday to Friday from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. Island Health says it expects to be able to support the same number of outpatients per day while also increasing reliability.
“These temporary changes mean Island Health can ensure appropriate staffing levels for all critical and emergency inpatient lab services in the hospital, giving our patients, staff and physician partners the best support possible,” the health authority said in a statement. “Further, when lab staffing is impacted with short notice sick calls, walk-in outpatient services can be temporarily disrupted. We recognize and understand that short notice changes in outpatient lab availability have been frustrating for walk-in patients, which is why we are taking these steps to improve consistency of service delivery.”
People in Campbell River can also access non-urgent outpatient lab services at the Merecroft Village LifeLabs location, open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
