New equipment makes Whitehorse hospital lab ‘most modern’ in the North, says health minister
Chemical analyzers will provide faster blood test results, could help alleviate hospital overcrowding
New chemical analyzers at the Whitehorse General Hospital mean patients and doctors can now get faster results for some blood tests.
The equipment upgrades are part of a $3-million plan to modernize the hospital’s medical laboratory, scheduled for completion in 2027.
At an unveiling at the hospital on Thursday, Yukon Hospital Corporation CEO Tiffany Boyd and Health Minister Brad Cathers both said the new technology will make testing more efficient and more reliable.
“This will make our lab the most modern North of 60,” said Cathers.
Boyd also emphasized its value as a recruitment tool. There’s a shortage of laboratory technicians across Canada, and the Yukon is no exception.
Marc Romney, director of medical lab services with the Yukon Hospital Corp., says the Whitehorse hospital’s old analyzers were failing, had a limited testing menu and results weren’t always high quality.
“The lab staff were spending a lot of time troubleshooting the instruments. That’s not their job,” he said. “Lab technologists don’t want to work in a lab where they don’t have the tools to do their work.”
Chemical analyzers take a small sample of blood, and test it for different levels of electrolytes such as sodium or potassium.
They’re different from the lab’s hematology analyzers, which are used for “complete blood cell count” tests. Those instruments have had problems in the past, and are next on the list to be replaced.
“They’re still functioning, but barely,” Romney said.
Faster test results — even by just a few hours — will also help address consistent overcrowding at the Whitehorse hospital, Romney said. He said there are times when doctors wait for lab results before discharging a patient.
Shortening test turnaround times “has a meaningful impact,” Romney said. “Not only for diagnosing infections in patients, but also for bed flow.”
The machines have been in use since early October, but lab staff have been training on the new equipment for months, said Romney. For now, that’s where the focus is — making sure staff are comfortable with the analyzers, offering the same tests they always have.
Eventually, Romney said, they’ll be expanding the sort of testing the lab can offer in-house. Some samples will still need to be sent South for specialized tests, however.
The impact of the new equipment, Romney said, is “huge.”
“It’s big news for the North … if we can pull it off here in the Yukon, there’s no reason why other territories can’t do it eventually.”
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: N.W.T. receives millions to improve health care, Radio-Canada
Finland: Brakes on Lapland health cuts a win for Arctic communities, says Sami Parliament, Eye on the Arctic
United States: Senators, including Alaska’s, sound alarm on cuts impacting Indigenous health care agency, Eye on the Arctic
