Jay had to take a fasting blood test. In BC, there are two private companies which do diagnostic tests for the public health care system. The closest
BC Biomedical is on Fifth Avenue in New Westminster. We arrived there at about 7:40 this morning so Jay could return and eat breakfast after. It is frequently busy at this particular office and today was certainly no exception.
Some frail, elderly patients were forced to stand waiting in an outside hallway as at peak hours there are never enough chairs in the waiting room. The workers seem efficient but are stretched beyond their limits of being able to provide timely service. I left some of the following information on their website:
There seems to be absolutely no procedures to ascertain patient wait times at BCBiomedical. We waited over 80 minutes for a blood test this morning. I cannot believe you do not have the 'wait tag' with a time stamp so the receptionist must note the time a patient has been standing. During every visit to the 5th Avenue clinic, I see that people must wait by standing in the hall. Even simple things like the display number for service could be improved. The number sign is not on the proper wall to be seen from most of the room and those with poor hearing or who do not understand English are left confused. These are the most basic simple procedures. If any manager with an ounce of common sense came for inspection visits from your company, they'd pick up on these simple things immediately. Apparently, BCBio is not interested in patient comfort nor worker stress and appears to merely want to process as many patients as possible for the lowest capital outlay.
