MEMORANDUM

DATE: April 15, 2020 TO: All Zone Clinical Trial and Research Study Teams FROM: Precision Laboratories RE: Urban Outpatient Labs

KEY MESSAGES:

Effective Thursday, April 16 the outpatient labs located at Alberta Children’s Hospital (ACH), (PLC), Rockyview General Hospital (RGH) and (SHC) will be closed. Patients will be re-directed to community Patient Service Centres. Staff will be deployed as appropriate.

The safety of vulnerable patient populations and staff in the urban is a priority as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Closing outpatient laboratory collections within urban acute care sites will reduce the number of individuals entering these facilities, limiting the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

An APL memo was distributed on March 25th, 2020 strongly recommending physicians cease ordering routine or non- essential lab work. This has already reduced volumes of patients attending outpatient collection locations.

The postponement of elective combined with the closure of most ambulatory clinics has already resulted in a decreased need for outpatient lab service. Re-directing lab collections for ambulatory and outpatients to community PSCs will limit traffic into acute care sites and allow for more appropriate physical distancing.

ACTION REQUIRED AND COLLECTION PROCESS:

Patients who continue to attend remaining ambulatory clinics at the hospital will have their urgent laboratory blood work collected by the onsite phlebotomy team. patients will continue to receive service in the Special Services Building (SSB) outpatient lab at Foothills Medical Center (FMC) which will remain open.

Clinical Trial and Research Study Patients who require KIT/ Research collections originally collected from an Urban Hospital Outpatient Lab will be redirected to go to the SSB Outpatient Lab located at the FMC.

**Clinical Trial/ Research study patients, please ensure you have your APL research requisition, study kit and shipping container with you when you arrive at the SSB Outpatient Lab, FMC for blood collection and please have your blood collected prior to 12:00 pm Monday-Thursday only.

Physicians can book ‘special collection’ appointments for immunocompromised or self-isolating patients at designated Patient Service Centres (PSCs). In Calgary Zone these are the PSCs at Ranchlands and Avenida.

All other outpatients requiring lab-work are invited to book an appointment at one of the community PSCs. Alberta Precision Labs (APL) will ensure community lab collection services remain available in the Calgary zone.

For the most up to date information on community collection centres and the hours of operation, please visit https://www.calgarylabservices.com/lab-patient/lab-locations/PSC-lab-locations.aspx

Patients should postpone visiting the lab if they are symptomatic and/or they have routine lab work that can be delayed. Physicians and other ordering care providers should advise patients on the need to attend or postpone their visit to the lab during this time. We are grateful for the cooperation of physicians and other partners as we work to manage our lab resources and maintain patient safety during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.