Headwaters to End Pilot Project; Residents to Have Access to Lab Services Through Provincial Model of Community-Based Lab Services
 

Orangeville, ON, June 17, 2009 – Headwaters Health Care Centre (“Headwaters”) today announced that, after discussions with the Central West LHIN and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, lab testing services for non-hospital patients will be available through the widely-used Provincial model for community laboratory services.

No changes are anticipated to lab services within the hospital.  Headwaters will ensure hospital lab services continue to be available to serve both of its sites for in-patients and registered out-patients. 

CML Healthcare already provides community laboratory services in both Orangeville and Shelburne and it is expected to continue to do so.   Accordingly, residents of Orangeville, Shelburne and their surrounding areas who require laboratory tests will continue to have timely access to high quality laboratory services delivered by CML. Other community laboratories also provide services to non-hospital patients and physicians in the area.

The transition to the Provincial model for community laboratory services involves ending the community laboratory pilot project agreement between Headwaters, Hospitals In-Common Laboratory, and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.  Headwaters will continue to deliver community laboratory services through to, and including, November 14, 2009. 


QUOTES

“This allows the hospital to focus on continuing to deliver quality service to hospital patients,” says Cholly Boland, Chief Executive Officer at Headwaters.  “We are committed to working closely with our staff, unions, patients and physicians to ensure a smooth transition to the Provincial model for community laboratory services.  We are confident that the providers of community laboratory services will continue to provide excellent, high quality and accessible services.”

“Lab tests for registered inpatients, emergency patients and outpatients of our hospitals will continue to be collected, processed and reported by the hospitals’ laboratories,” says Dr. Jeff McKinnon, Chief of Staff at Headwaters.

“Accessible, quality sustainable community-based lab services will continue to be available during and after the end of the pilot project and transition to the established provincial model,” says Mimi Lowi-Young, Chief Executive Officer, Central West LHIN.


QUICK FACTS
 

• Residents in the Orangeville and Shelburne areas who require laboratory tests will continue to have timely access to high quality laboratory testing in their communities.  
• A community patient is an individual who requires blood or other laboratory tests after being seen in the doctor’s office.  Patients who are homebound, in nursing homes and in long term care facilities are also considered community patients.  
• Headwaters and HICL will no longer process community samples after November 15, 2009. As of November 16, 2009, CML HealthCare will be providing these services.  In the interim, the laboratory service delivery team will keep the public informed about the process.
• Most rural areas and small communities in Ontario use the provincial model for the delivery of laboratory services, where the community laboratory service provider, funded by OHIP, delivers lab testing services from specimen collection through to test processing and reporting.
• Laboratory testing for community patients is outside of the responsibilities of Ontario’s hospitals.  The community laboratory sector has long provided community laboratory testing in Ontario, thereby ensuring hospital laboratories are able to focus their services to best meet the needs of the hospital’s inpatients and registered outpatients.
• CML HealthCare has a significant presence in the area, providing local access to testing through laboratory specimen collection centres in Hanover, Caledon, Georgetown, Newmarket and Brampton.  CML HealthCare also operates testing facilities including a full service regional lab in Mississauga
• CML HealthCare is committed to providing community phlebotomy services in both Orangeville and Shelburne.

Media contacts:

Ann Cain, Communications, Headwaters Health Care Centre, 519-941-2702 ext 2248, or email acain@headwatershealth.ca

Cholly Boland, CEO, Headwaters Health Care Centre, 519-941-2702 ext. 2200, or email cboland@headwatershealth.ca

LEARN MORE

Headwaters Health Care Centre
Headwaters Health Care Centre serves more than 110,000 residents in Caledon, Orangeville, Shelburne and Dufferin County. The hospital operates two sites – Headwaters Orangeville, a 108 bed acute care hospital and Headwaters Shelburne, a 33 bed chronic care hospital. Visit www.headwatershealth.ca

For more information about the Central West LHIN, visit www.centralwestlhin.on.ca

CML HealthCare Inc.
CML HealthCare Inc. is one of the leading healthcare diagnostic service organizations in Canada and one of the most experienced community-based providers of laboratory services in Ontario. The company was founded in 1971 by Dr. John Mull and has supported the delivery of laboratory services to many communities in Ontario including Orangeville and Shelburne. Visit www.cmlhealthcare.com

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