Northern Health's Prince Rupert online Check in Service hits a few glitches

There's a growing number of Prince Rupert residents sharing their frustrations at the simple task of getting a blood test at the Prince Rupert hospital, with the Northern Health Facebook page dedicated to Prince Rupert themes currently hosting a vigorous discussion on the topic.

At the start of this year, the process of getting a blood test was a fairly simple thing, you received a requisition form from your Doctor, took it to the hospital and if you didn't wish to book an appointment, joined what in effect was a cattle call, taking a number and waiting your turn.

Some days would deliver a short visit, others a tad longer ... still normally the wait was less than 90 minutes at its worst.

That all changed with arrival of COVID in the province, with a new protocol in place to reduce the level of those waiting for tests, with a phone reservation system put in place that strained at best, with reports of patients waiting two to three months for a return call just to book an appointment.

Recently as we outlined over the summer, Northern Health introduced an online check in system that  provided for somewhat of a return to the previous system in place, with those requiring blood work now waiting in their cars, or outside the hospital for an alert on their mobile device that they were up for their test or collection opportunity.

Alas, the age of technology has not gone smoothly for Northern Health as yesterday's update indicates, the online system has had some issues to fix, while short staffing also making for challenging times for the lab staff in Prince Rupert:

The comments that have followed the Northern Health statement provide for a bit of a glimpse into the frustration of local residents at the ongoing issues related to medical care in the city, with one contributor asking that North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice look into the situation and address the issues.

Recently Councillor Barry Cunningham made note of one area of service that has seen some progress from Northern Health, with the return of mammography services to Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, a service that had been absent from the North Coast for much of the last year.

You can review more notes on health care in Prince Rupert from our archive page here.