The Dynacare Laboratory and Health Services Centre celebrated its grand opening at Elm Place on May 29, marking the company’s first location in Greater Sudbury.
Located just off the downtown mall’s food court, the centre opened to walk-in customers on May 13, with the May 29 ribbon cutting notching its ceremonial opening.
Although the word “laboratory” is in its title, like LifeLabs which already has centres throughout Greater Sudbury, Dynacare ships medical specimens to southern Ontario for laboratory work.
(LifeLabs came under fire earlier this year due to a whistleblower revealing the company’s plans to close its Sudbury regional laboratory. It’s unclear what, exactly, became of these plans because LifeLabs refuses to answer questions, but a whistleblower told Nickel Belt NDP MPP France Gélinas that only two of the laboratory’s 40 positions have been retained.)
As for Dynacare, company president Vito Ciciretto told Sudbury.com that their Sudbury location includes two components.
One is procuring laboratory tests, similar to what LifeLabs does, wherein physicians fill out requisition forms for patients which request certain tests be taken.
Patients now have the option of choosing Dynacare, through which more than 1,500 tests can be derived from blood and urine testing.
Samples are tested in Brampton, and Ciciretto said results are received by 8 a.m. the following day.
The other side is the CannAmm Occupational Health Testing side of the business, which does general wellness testing for employees who work in safety-sensitive workplaces.
“If they’re hiring somebody who’s going to work in an industrial facility and they want to make sure … their general health is good,” Ciciretto explained, adding that this can include such things as lung capacity, vision and drug and alcohol testing.
This includes Department of Transportation testing.
“Anybody who drives a truck across the Canada/U.S. border is required to take drug and alcohol testing on a regular basis,” Ciciretto said, adding that they’re the only sanctioned lab in Canada that can undertake this work. While third parties have undertaken local efforts to date, the new lab at Elm Place will take over matters.
Overall, Ciciretto said the Elm Place centre is anticipated to take in 150 to 200 collections per day, with their foray into Greater Sudbury reflective of a growing local economy and population base necessitating greater access to health care options.
Dynacare is open Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment only.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.