70% of Ontario lab workers want to quit, assoc. CEO says

The majority of lab workers in Ontario are considering leaving their jobs and many are feeling burnout similar to nurses, according to the CEO of The Medical Laboratory Professionals' Association of Ontario (MLPAO).

Michelle Hoad tells CP24 that lab workers across the province are overwhelmed and “at the end of their rope.”

“We surveyed our members, 70 per cent actively wish to leave the profession. We've got nine per cent that are experiencing burnout,” Hoad told CP24 Thursday morning.

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“They are tired of working double shifts. They're tired of coming in and actually having someone who's called in sick. They work a night shift, they've got to stay in for a full day shift. It is currently a situation that we can't continue for very much longer,” she added.

MLPAO is a non-profit health organization that has over 4,000 members across the province.

According to a recent survey from The Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario (WeRPN), nearly seven in 10 RPNs said they can’t provide adequate care for patients due to insufficient time and resources.

In addition, nearly one in two RPNs are considering leaving the profession altogether.

Hoad said lab workers share similar sentiments and they are struggling to cope with the high demand of tests needed across the province, including COVID-related tests and other lab work.

“In Ontario, we do 280 million lab tests a year. So COVID is just one piece of that. So now with the resumption of surgeries there is an expectation that those lab tests come in a timely manner,” Hoad said.

She added that more lab workers are needed to fill in the gaps and deliver timely results.

“If we were properly staffed, we could actually have people moving out of emergency much quicker. People are moving out of hospitals much quicker, but we don't have enough people working in our labs right now.”

Like nurses, Hoad said lab workers are feeling dissatisfied with their salaries and are also restricted by the government’s Bill 124, which currently caps public sector wage increases to a maximum of one per cent total compensation for three years.

In addition, Hoad said lab workers did not receive temporary pandemic pay that personal support workers (PSWs) received or a $5,000 retention bonus that was given to eligible nurses.

A person holds test tubes in this stock photo. (Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels)

“I believe the increase we got was one per cent. This is really hard for this group,” she said. “So we are asking (this) group right now to go way above and beyond and they are extremely tired.”

There are five training programs in Ontario for lab workers but Hoad said they all currently have waitlists.

The association is in talks with the government to find other methods of bringing in more lab professionals.

“We are looking at internationally educated (workers) coming in from outside of the country to address the problem but, you know, right now I think the demand is about 500 medical lab technologists,” Hoad said. “That's three years worth of programming. That's a nine-year solution. We can't wait nine years, we need something to happen now.”

Hoad said the government needs to create a retention strategy to keep lab workers in the industry, including repealing Bill 124.

“Forty-four per cent of our members are actually eligible to retire in the next two years. Many are taking early retirement. We don't want them to leave. We've got to find ways to keep them in our labs right now.”

Ontario Health Executive Vice-President Dr. Chris Simpson told CP24 on Wednesday that the burnout experienced by health care workers is one factor contributing to the “crisis” plaguing the province’s health care system.

Staff shortages have been reported at hospitals across the province over the last few months, resulting in the temporary closure of emergency rooms and intensive care units.