Moncton doctors oppose New Brunswick lab service changes

Doctors at a hospital in Moncton are speaking out against the provincial government's planned changes to laboratory services they say could affect patient care.

The multi-phase plan would result in some tests being shipped to other hospitals in the city or other parts of the province, which doctors say could increase the time it takes to get results. 

About 280 medical and dental staff of the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre are opposed to changes expected to be implemented over the next several years, several physicians said at a news conference Tuesday. 

Dr. Luc Cormier, a cardiologist at the Dumont, said they want the changes halted and to instead focus on improving existing labs.

"I think we need to maintain that plan rather than doing a very, very drastic change to a whole lab organization for our province in our hospitals and in the long run that will impact patient care," Cormier told reporters. 

The plan, according to an internal document obtained earlier this month by CBC News, shows phase one starting this fall. It involves shipping all outpatient blood samples to Fredericton and Bathurst for testing. 

A second phase would see the expansion of the microbiology lab at the Dumont, which would become the provincial public health laboratory handling routine microbiology testing.

This phase would also involve transferring hematology and chemistry samples from the Dumont to the Moncton Hospital for testing, according to a news release from the doctors. The Dumont would only retain what the news release describes as a "'stat lab' for major emergencies."

A third phase, which the news release says could start in 2026, could consist of centralizing all pathology-related services at the Moncton Hospital and Saint John Regional Hospital. The doctors said this would affect tests for cancer patients at the Dumont, which has a major oncology centre.

The doctors rejected suggestions the changes would have no impact on patient care. 

"We're not talking about thousands of tests, we're talking about millions of tests that will be transferred between different hospitals throughout the province," Cormier said. 

"Transferring tests to other hospitals for analysis is already being done, but not at the magnitude and level where this plan has proposed."

Rob McKee, the opposition Liberal health critic, attended the news conference and told reporters it's concerning the health department doesn't appear to be listening to experts. McKee wouldn't say whether a Liberal government, if elected, would reverse the changes. 

"I think it's definitely something that we need to look at," McKee said.

"We need to listen to the experts. We'll give a fierce opposition to decisions that impact the health care, the quality of health care, reliable health care."

Department of Health spokesperson Sean Hatchard issued a statement similar to one earlier this month saying that the proposal will be tested and a detailed implementation plan presented to the government for approval before any changes are implemented. 

Hatchard said the priority is to ensure patient care is not negatively affected.