Ontario lab professionals ‘on the brink of mass exodus’: report

Ontario’s short-staffed medical labs, processing the millions of backlogged COVID-19 and other important diagnostic tests, “are on the brink of mass exodus,” the head of an association representing them has written to the premier.

In a letter sent to Doug Ford on Tuesday morning, Michelle Hoad, CEO of the Medical Laboratory Professionals’ Association of Ontario (MLPAO), said the healthcare system faces a backlog of approximately 20 million diagnostic tests and workers are already putting in long hours to keep up.

It comes on the heels of the release of a report from the association that found 68 per cent of lab technologists are working grueling schedules that include double shifts and no days off. In addition, nearly 90 per cent of workers are struggling with burnout ranging from extreme stress to contemplations of self-harm.

“It’s the first time in serving our members that we’re starting to get feedback around people contemplating taking their own life because they can’t keep up with testing demands,” Hoad told CityNews in an interview.

“You know that medical laboratory professionals cannot walk off the job. If they did, people would die.”

When COVID-19 hit, 70 per cent of the province’s labs were already short-staffed. Now, labs are facing a shortage of more than 460 technologists, which is almost double the rate of new technologists entering the field.

To make matters worse, 73 per cent of workers reported wanting to leave the profession, which is especially troubling as the province looks to ramp up surgeries again, Hoad said.

“There’s lab testing done to ensure you can get surgery. There’s lab testing done to see how you’re doing during surgery. There’s lab testing done after you’re done surgery. I think if we are not very carful right now and the government doesn’t pay attention to this problem, the intent to ramp surgeries up will actually stop.”

Hoad added labs are already experiencing longer turnaround times between a test being ordered and sample collected from the patient and when that test is processed. The results drive the majority of all medical decisions made by doctors.

But the staffing crisis is just one factor. Turnaround times are also being affected by supply chain issues with labs reporting limited access to things like blood collection tubes and butterfly needles.

Hoad is requesting a meeting with the premier and calling for retention bonuses that are in line with the $5,000 retention bonus Ford recently agreed to for all front-line nurses in publicly funded facilities.

So far, the minister of mental health has responded and provided Hoad with tools to pass along to MLPAO members. But she is waiting to hear back from Ford’s office and the Ministry of Health.

“You know that medical laboratory professionals cannot walk off the job. If they did, people would die,” Hoad wrote to the premier. “You are taking advantage of their professional responsibility. You are taking advantage of their ethics.”