Patients in the Northwest requiring blood tests at the hospital will no longer need an appointment
Edmundston, Thursday, May 31, 2018 – Phlebotomy services (bloodwork) will soon be available on a walk-in basis in all three hospitals in Vitalité Health Network’s Northwest Zone, namely the Edmundston Regional Hospital, the Grand Falls General Hospital and the Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph de Saint-Quentin. This new way to provide services will enable improved patient management as well as a significant decrease in waiting times.
The new operating mode that will be implemented will make it possible to improve service quality by better meeting the needs of people in the concerned communities. “This way, we will be able to give patients the opportunity to get bloodwork done based on their own availabilities, instead of having to come at a specific time that was predetermined by central scheduling and that is not always convenient for them,” explained Gilles Lanteigne, President and CEO of the Network. “This new initiative is also tangible proof that we listen to our patients and that we are constantly adapting our care and services to people's varied needs and realities, as stipulated in our 2017–2020 Strategic Plan,” he added. Patients will be able to come without an appointment to each hospital facility Monday through Friday, according to the schedules set for these services.
The Director of Laboratory Services, Yves Goudreau, who firmly believes that the new system will be sure to please the population, explains that it will be implemented in the Northwest Zone hospitals based on a specific timeline. “The Grand Falls General Hospital will be the first to offer walk-in phlebotomy services, on June 4, as of 12 noon The Edmundston Regional Hospital and Hôtel-Dieu-Saint Joseph de Saint Quentin will both follow suit, on July 3, 2018, at the same time,” he added.
Here is Northwest Zone’s new schedule for walk-in phlebotomy services (bloodwork):
| Edmundston Regional Hospital (as of July 3, 2018) | |
|---|---|
| Mondays and Tuesdays | 12 noon – 3:15 p.m. |
| Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays | 7:15 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. |
| Grand Falls General Hospital (as of June 4, 2018) | |
| Mondays and Tuesdays | 12 noon – 2:00 p.m. |
| Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays | 7:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. |
| Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph de Saint-Quentin (as of July 3, 2018) | |
| Mondays and Tuesdays | 12 noon – 2:00 p.m. |
| Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays | 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. |
The Network would like to point out that in exceptional cases blood tests must still be performed by appointment.
This operating procedure is already in place in Beauséjour Zone hospital facilities (Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre and Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital), and the Network is planning on extending it to the Acadie-Bathurst and Restigouche zones this year.
