Outpatient lab at Sterling Centre in Vernon has shut down due to staffing issues. (Photo credit: Sterling Centre)

By Pete McIntyre

Could reopen

Local lab test facilities closing due to staffing shortages

Oct 29, 2021 | 10:30 AM

Vernon and Lumby are both dealing with the reduction of medical lab services.

In Vernon, the outpatient lab in the Sterling Centre closed down Tuesday (Oct. 26) this week which Interior Health says was due to staffing issues, and the agency hopes to reopen it if enough staff can be found.

“Interior Health has been actively recruiting lab workers over the past few years to stabilize lab services throughout the North Okanagan. These professionals are in high demand and unfortunately on occasion, Interior Health has needed to adjust and make temporary changes to lab services throughout the region,” said IH in a statement to Vernon Matters.

I-H said with the Sterling Centre lab closed, perhaps just temporarily, people requiring walk-in lab service can visit the Polson Tower Outpatient Lab located at Vernon Jubilee Hospital.

Patients are encouraged to make appointments online at www.labonlinebooking.ca or by calling our Lab Call Centre at 1-877-740-7747. The call centre is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

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Patients can also access service from Valley Medical Laboratories, which has two locations in Vernon.

Meantime, in Lumby, the one day a week lab tests being done by Valley Medical Services will end next week, also due to staffing issues, but could return if the situation changes.

It means residents of Lumby will have to go to Vernon for those tests.

Barbara Dyck of the Lumby and District Health Services told Global News it means Lumby residents will have to go to Vernon for lab tests which she says is difficult for some people, notably seniors who have to rely on others for transport.