Alberta Groups Unite to Increase Access to Care for Vulnerable Populations

Partnership Increases Testing Resources for Patients in Downtown Edmonton

EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A partnership between Jasper Place Wellness Centre and DynaLIFE Medical Labs, facilitated by Health City, is establishing one more step towards promoting equitable health care for Albertans. Jasper Place Wellness Centre serves a vulnerable population in downtown Edmonton, and clinic staff have observed that more than half of the testing requisitions provided to patients go unfulfilled. The lack of laboratory data puts the patients at a further disadvantage and prohibits physicians from accurately diagnosing and monitoring treatments. Jasper Place Wellness Centre has identified on-site testing sample collection as an opportunity to reduce barriers for patients to access comprehensive care. Blood samples degrade quickly, but can be preserved through centrifugation, a process that separates cells from the liquid components, protecting the integrity of the sample until the next steps are conducted.

Facilitated by Health City, DynaLIFE has provided Jasper Place Wellness Centre with the centrifugation equipment required to preserve samples until they can be transferred to a certified laboratory for processing, as well as maintenance and technical support. Additionally, DynaLIFE has committed to ensuring daily collection of samples and couriered delivery to a certified laboratory. The support will allow Jasper Place Wellness Centre to dedicate more resources to patient care and reduce inefficiencies in unfulfilled requisition processes, diagnosis, and care.

The partnership brings each organization closer to realizing the goal of increasing access to care for all Albertans.

“It’s our responsibility to help ensure vulnerable Albertans have better access to diagnostic health testing, conducted with high-integrity samples,” said DynaLIFE CEO Jason Pincock. “The DynaLIFE team is always on the lookout for this kind of gesture, where a simple but essential service can have a dramatic and positive impact on the health of underserved populations. We’re very proud to offer this service to the Jasper Place Wellness Centre, and to support their work to protect and improve the health of their clients.”

"As a community development organization, we are always looking for opportunities to bring appropriate, low-barrier, client-centered health solutions to our community, and our partnership with Health City and DynaLIFE does just that. We are grateful for partners that are willing to advocate for change on both an individual and system level and are excited that this is just the beginning of our work together," said Murray Soroka, Founder and CEO at Jasper Place Wellness Centre.

“Partnerships such as the one between Jasper Place Wellness Centre and DynaLIFE are crucial to securing access to health care for all Albertans. Leveraging the strengths of a company like DynaLIFE to provide support and resources to an organization serving vulnerable populations within the province is essential to meet the evolving needs of our populace,” said Reg Joseph, CEO at Health City.

The first sample collection took place on Monday, July 12, 2021.

About DynaLIFE

Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, DynaLIFE Medical Labs is a major Canadian medical laboratory offering a complete range of diagnostic testing services. Our 1,300 employees are proud to be seen as industry leaders – bringing reliable, innovative services to more than 2,000 physicians for two million patient visits annually – performing greater than 19 million laboratory tests every year. DynaLIFE has been operating clinical laboratory facilities in Alberta for more than 60 years.

About Jasper Place Wellness Centre

The Jasper Place Wellness Centre builds strong communities and people by addressing social and health-based inequities facing low-income and/or vulnerable neighbourhoods. We do this by working with people and community assets to find new solutions in the fields of health care, business/employment, food security, community building, and affordable housing.

About Health City

Health City is a Canadian not-for-profit corporation that works with clinicians, innovators, philanthropic organizations, and companies to develop new pathways of care that can drive better health outcomes and economic development in the health sector. Our focus is on transforming innovations from our health sector into solutions that have commercial application and global relevance, adopting them for impact locally and scaling them for export to global markets.

For more information, visit www.healthcities.ca.