Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says Dynalife will transfer all of its staff, equipment and facilities to the government’s Alberta Precision Labs by the end of the year after the private company struggled with major delays.

“Waiting weeks in some communities to book an appointment, or to get test results back, is just not right, and it’s not acceptable,” said LaGrange at a news conference Friday.

LaGrange said centralizing lab services under Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL), a subsidiary of Alberta Health Services (AHS), will stabilize the system and provide “more oversight” and faster access.

“We will be able to have it all be provided by someone who is providing quality lab services right now, because APL currently does operate all of our hospital labs, they do our rural labs, they do acute care. So, they’re experienced, they have the expertise, the knowledge, the ability right now to do it,” said LaGrange, adding APL will continue to grow capacity and add more appointments.

She said existing appointments won’t be impacted and there will be no job losses.

While AHS and the owners of Dynalife have signed a memorandum of understanding, the final deal has yet to be inked and LaGrange declined to share how much the transfer could cost taxpayers.

AHS president and CEO Mauro Chies said the provincial health authority will be working with unions to make sure salaries are standardized.

The nationalization of community lab services across the province is an about face for the UCP, which under former premier Jason Kenney expanded private delivery to the Calgary and South regions last year.