Regina residents concerned about line-ups and wait times at LifeLabs

REGINA -

Patients are concerned about wait times and line-up procedures at LifeLabs after COVID-19 protocols forced them to wait outside in the cold.

Due to COVID-19, LifeLabs reduced the capacity limit of its front lobby and waiting area to ensure physical distancing, which has forced people to wait outside for walk-in appointments.

Krystal Buckarmie said she waited outside the Albert Street location for about 45 minutes before getting through the front doors.

“It’s ridiculous. We’re standing out here in sub zero temperatures,” Buckarmie said.

She added she has gone for multiple tests over the past few weeks and it has been the same situation every time.

There are appointments that can be booked online, but Buckarmie said they are all booked for about one month.

Holli Appelquist took her medically fragile mother, who is in her 70s, to the McCarthy Boulevard location and said she is dealt with the same issue.

She said they lined up at 7:30 a.m. when the testing centre opened and still waited about 30 minutes before getting inside.

“(My mother) was freezing. Like shaking, shivering, freezing and just a little bit shaken up from the whole experience,” Appelquist said. “It’s crazy and I think sort of inhumane to expect a 75-year-old, or a medically frail person, very young sick child or a pregnant woman to have to stand outside and freeze just to get a lab test.”

Both women suggested a few different ways LifeLabs could have people line-up without standing outside including taking people’s phone number so they can wait in their car for a call or a text message to let them know it’s their turn, or a ticket system with a sign outside the door indicating what number they are service next.

In a statement to CTV News, LifeLabs said it has decided to remove physical distancing requirements for patients on Nov. 29 after a review of their protocols and an assessment of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, which will allow more people to wait inside.

It said it’s also working to triage patients in line with a dedicated screener at busier locations. The screener would help with registration, triaging elderly and immunocompromised people to provide them with same-day appointments.