Ontario medical labs face critical staffing shortages, delaying test results. MLPAO urges $6M funding for student training to expand workforce capacity.
Medical laboratories across Ontario are facing persistent staffing shortages that are delaying test results and straining a workforce critical to clinical care and public health surveillance. In response, the Medical Laboratory Professionals Association of Ontario (MLPAO) is calling on the province to fund lab-based educator positions to expand student clinical placements and ease workforce pressures.
A recent MLPAO survey found that 68% of Ontario medical laboratories report shortages of medical laboratory technologists (MLTs). These professionals perform the diagnostic testing that supports physician decision-making, disease surveillance, and outbreak investigations across the healthcare system.
Staff Shortages Create Training Bottlenecks, Extend Test Turnaround Times
Staffing gaps are increasingly affecting laboratory operations. The association’s 2025 report indicates that shortages are contributing to longer turnaround times for diagnostic testing, including cancer diagnostics and sexually transmitted infection panels, delaying results for patients and clinicians.
Although laboratories remain understaffed, the MLPAO says the issue is not a lack of student interest. MLT students are required to complete clinical placements as part of their training, but many laboratories are unable to accept trainees because they lack sufficient staff to supervise and educate them.
Michelle Hoad, CEO of the MLPAO, told CBC Radio-Canada, “When a lab is short-staffed, they’re not able to take a student from that program.” She described the situation as a training bottleneck, noting that many laboratories maintain waitlists for clinical placements. (Photo credit: MLPAO)
The MLPAO is requesting $6 million over three years to fund educator positions within medical laboratories. The association argues that targeted funding would expand placement capacity, accelerate workforce entry for new graduates, and reduce reliance on overtime among existing staff.
Hoad said Ontario’s staffing challenges have been building for more than a decade and were intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. “A lot of people were understaffed, overworked,” she said. “A lot of people that were eligible to take retirement, took early retirement.”
Lab Staffing Pressures Persist Across North America
Similar workforce pressures are being reported in the United States. The American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) 2024 Vacancy Survey, reported on recently by Dark Daily, found that while vacancy rates in US medical laboratories have declined from pandemic-era highs, they remain well above pre-pandemic levels as retirements accelerate faster than the pipeline of newly trained professionals. Survey authors warned that workforce recovery has been “uneven and incomplete,” with sustained recruitment and retention challenges continuing to affect laboratory operations nationwide.
Ontario has made some investments aimed at strengthening the MLT pipeline. In 2024, the province added 700 new seats to MLT education programs, according to Ema Popovic, spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones. The government also expanded the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant to include MLT students, covering tuition and book costs in exchange for post-graduation service commitments in underserved areas.
The MLPAO welcomed those measures but said they have not resolved immediate operational challenges inside laboratories. Hoad noted that many technologists continue to work double shifts or delay vacation time to maintain testing volumes.
“It’s a very giving group,” Hoad said. “But that being said, we need to make sure that we don’t take advantage of them and we make sure that they’re properly staffed.”
Popovic did not respond to questions from CBC Radio-Canada about whether the Ministry of Health has received or is considering the MLPAO’s funding request for lab-based educators.
According to the MLPAO study, targeted funding could quickly expand training capacity. Among laboratories that currently do not accept students for clinical placements, 37% said they would be able to do so if a government-funded trainer were available.
For laboratory leaders, the association warns that failure to address training capacity risks prolonging workforce shortages, increasing burnout, and extending turnaround times—structural challenges mirrored across North America and with direct implications for diagnostic quality, patient care, and system resilience.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine project that bloodstream infections caused by resistant bacteria will spike among adults aged 74 and older by 2030.
For laboratory leaders, new modeling research underscores a mounting challenge in infectious disease surveillance: the rise of drug-resistant bloodstream infections (BSIs) across Europe. According to a study published in PLOS Medicine, the rate of BSIs caused by antimicrobial-resistant bacteria is expected to climb sharply over the next five years—driven largely by an aging population.
A news release from CIRAP explained that researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine analyzed data from more than 12 million blood cultures collected across 29 European countries between 2010 and 2019. Using those findings, they projected BSI rates through 2050 across 38 bacteria–antibiotic combinations, revealing what they called a “clear and consistent relationship” between infection rates, age, and sex. “With substantial sub- and national-variation, the consistency and clear shape of some relationships provide evidence for the inclusion of age and sex in any predictions of future AMR burden,” the authors wrote.
BSI Rates Expected to Increase
The study’s forecasts are sobering. By 2030, BSI rates are expected to increase dramatically among older adults (74 years and up), while stabilizing or even declining among younger groups. Incidence is also predicted to rise faster in men than in women across most bacterial species. Even under optimistic public health scenarios, the team found that achieving a 10% reduction in infections by 2030 would only be feasible for about two-thirds of bacteria–antibiotic pairings.
Senior study author Gwen Knight, PhD, noted, “Combining these factors with demographic and infection trends really highlighted how challenging it will be to reverse the steady rise in bloodstream infections across Europe.” (Photo credit: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
For laboratories, the findings highlight the growing importance of targeted surveillance, age-stratified reporting, and real-time resistance data to guide treatment and public health interventions. As Knight and her colleagues conclude, intervention strategies must account for demographic shifts—because the burden of resistance, much like the population it affects, is rapidly aging.
This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.
Clinical laboratory genetic testing labs and telemedicine groups among those charged
In the largest healthcare fraud bust in US history, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had levied criminal charges against 324 defendants for allegedly participating in various fraudulent healthcare schemes—including clinical laboratory genetic testing and telemedicine fraud—totaling over $14.6 billion in losses.
A DOJ press release states the agency’s 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown represents an unprecedented effort to alleviate fraud in healthcare that exploits patients and taxpayers.
The defendants include 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other licensed medical professionals. The cases are being prosecuted by Health Care Fraud Strike Force teams from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, 50 US Attorneys’ Offices, and 12 State Attorneys’ General Offices.
“This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in the press release. (Photo copyright: US Department of Justice.)
49 Clinical Lab Defendants Charged
The takedown relied on coordinated investigations from several agencies, including the:
Health Care Fraud Unit of the DOJ Criminal Division’s Fraud Section,
Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General,
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Drug Enforcement Administration, and,
Multiple US Attorneys’ Offices.
Clinical laboratory testing fraud was addressed in the takedown. Forty-nine defendants were charged with telemedicine and genetic testing fraud schemes where deceptive telemarketing campaigns targeted Medicare beneficiaries, resulting in $46 million in fraudulent claims being submitted to Medicare for durable medical equipment (DME), genetic tests, and COVID-19 tests.
“Make no mistake—this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in the press release.
Other High-Profile Cases
The most prominent cases include a $10 billion urinary catheter scheme where foreign straw owners secretly purchased medical supply companies and then used stolen identities and personal health data of more than one million Americans to file erroneous Medicare claims. Known as Operation Gold Rush, the hoax resulted in the arrests of nineteen defendants, including four in Estonia and seven individuals attempting to avoid capture at US airports and at the Mexican border.
In another case involving foreign influence, owners and executives in Pakistan were charged in connection with a $703 million scheme where artificial intelligence (AI) was allegedly used to create fake recordings of Medicare recipients consenting to receive various products. The data was then sold to clinical laboratories and DME companies to fraudulently submit false claims to Medicare. In addition, some of these defendants allegedly conspired to conceal and launder proceeds from US bank accounts to overseas bank accounts.
Also, a defendant who owned a billing company allegedly planned a sham in which Arizona Medicaid was fraudulently billed $650 million for addiction treatment programs where services were never rendered or patients received substandard care. The defendant, who is based in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, supposedly received at least $25 million from the scheme and is also charged with a money laundering offense.
“It’s not done by small time operators,” said Mehmet Oz, MD, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). “These are organized syndicates who are designing to hurt America.”
Other notable cases include a scam involving $1.1 billion in fraudulent claims for unnecessary amniotic wound allografts for elderly patients resulting in defendants receiving millions in illegal kickbacks. In another scheme, 74 defendants were charged with the illegal distribution of prescription opioids and other controlled substances.
DOJ Property Seizures
As a result of the fraud bust, the US government seized over $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets and prevented an additional $4 billion from being paid out by CMS due to false and fraudulent claims.
“These criminals didn’t just steal someone else’s money. They stole from you,” Matthew Galeotti, JD, who leads the DOJ Criminal Division, told the Associated Press. “Every fraudulent claim, every fake billing, every kickback scheme represents money taken directly from the pockets of American taxpayers who fund these essential programs through their hard work and sacrifice.”
This latest bust demonstrates the DOJ’s increased resolve to pursue healthcare fraud, including cases involving clinical laboratory testing. Look for further coverage of this aspect in the 7-14-2025 issue of The Dark Report.
With public trust in healthcare organizations dropping, clinical laboratories worldwide must work doubly hard to provide competent, secure services to their patients
Is the UK’s National Health Service hurting people? About 10% of NHS patients said yes in a recent survey conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the University of Oxford. And those findings are a public stain on the physicians and clinical laboratories in an already strained healthcare system.
Of the 10,000 people interviewed, nearly 1,000 “reported they had experienced harm caused by the NHS in the previous three years. Of those, 6.2% cited their treatment or care and 3.5% blamed the harm on a lack of access to NHS services,” according to an LSHTM news release.
While the definition of “hurt” within the confines of the survey wasn’t specified, what is clear is that public trust in the UK’s healthcare system is decreasing. Fallout from the survey may affect the public’s trust in clinical labs that are facing unfavorable feedback from slow test result delivery times or rare instances of incorrect results.
“I’ve been studying patient safety and working in and with the NHS, including as a GP, for many years. It’s a complex challenge to pinpoint the cause of the problem and solve it,” said study author Helen Hogan, PhD, MBBS, a general practitioner and associate professor in the department of Health Services Research and Policy at LSHTM, in the news release.
“These findings indicate that healthcare harm affects a considerable number of the general public. It shows that there is still some way to go to improve safety across the NHS,” said study author Helen Hogan, PhD, MBBS, general practitioner and associate professor in the department of Health Services Research and Policy at LSHTM, in a news release. (Photo copyright: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.)
Of the 9.7% that reported NHS harm, 6.2% claimed it was from the actual treatment or care given and 3.5% from the access to care. Severity ranged from 37.6% reporting moderate impact to 44.8% reporting severe impact, and the majority claimed the impact occurred at hospitals, the authors wrote in BMJ Quality and Safety.
Women led the respondents in reports of harm, and more severe harm or higher rates of harm were reported from those in disadvantaged groups or lower social grades and those with disabilities or long-term illness, according to the researchers.
Though 60% got professional support for their troubles, including 11.6% contacting the NHS’ Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), only 17% made a formal complaint. A small percentage, 2.5%, sought financial compensation, the survey showed.
Poor Patient Service Experience
Further, the patients reported poor results when they sought relief from the harm. Some (44.4%) desired treatment or care to help with the harm, while others (34.8%) wanted an explanation for the harm. Two-thirds said their incidents were not dealt with well and only half reported a positive PALS experience, the survey noted.
“Those harmed by healthcare are looking for a compassionate and caring response from services. What they really want is to be listened to, to have their harm acknowledged, and get an explanation,” noted Michele Peters, PhD, fellow survey author and associate professor at Oxford Population Health, University of Oxford, in the LSHTM news release.
Loss in Confidence
To make matters worse for the UK’s publicly run healthcare system, an unrelated patient satisfaction survey published contemporaneously found that NHS satisfaction hit record lows. According to The Guardian, the annual patient survey found a 24% decrease in satisfaction among adults in Britain in how NHS is run (now at a mere 21%). Dissatisfaction rose from 52% to 59% in the past year.
General practice, accident and emergency, and dental care were the areas of biggest disappointment, the study revealed.
“It is by far the most dramatic loss of confidence in how the NHS runs that we have seen in 40 years of this survey,” said Mark Dayan, a policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust who was engaged by The King’s Fund to analyze the survey data.
“There is a need to better understand the patient perspective following harm and for further consideration of what a person-centered approach to resolution and recovery might look like,” the researchers noted in BMJ Quality and Safety.
These types of findings can contribute to public mistrust of healthcare organizations worldwide, including clinical laboratories and pathology groups. It’s worth watching how the NHS resolves these issues.
Findings may lead to new clinical laboratory testing and treatments for Parkinson’s patients
Gut bacteria have repeatedly been proven to perform critical roles in the development of certain diseases. And many clinical laboratory tests use human microbiota as biomarkers.
Now, researchers at Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan have discovered a link between microbes in the gut and the brain. The connection may play a part in the development of Parkinson’s disease, according to a Nagoya University news release.
The researchers found that a reduction in the genes responsible for synthesizing riboflavin (vitamin B2) and biotin (vitamin B7) may increase the likelihood of developing Parkinson’s.
They also determined that the lack of these genes may lessen the integrity of the intestinal barrier that prevents toxins from entering the bloodstream causing the inflammation often seen in Parkinson’s patients.
“Supplementation therapy targeting riboflavin and biotin holds promise as a potential therapeutic avenue for alleviating Parkinson’s symptoms and slowing disease progression,” said lead researcher Hiroshi Nishiwaki, PhD, Division of Neurogenetics, Center for Neurological Diseases and Cancer, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, in a news release. (Photo copyright: Nagoya University.)
Key Deficiencies in Parkinson’s Patients
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, nearly one million people in the US are living with Parkinson’s and that number is expected to increase to 1.2 million by the year 2030. Approximately 90,000 new cases of Parkinson’s are diagnosed in the US each year, and more than 10 million people are living with the disease worldwide.
To perform their research, the Nagoya University team analyzed stool samples from 94 Parkinson’s patients from Japan, the US, Germany, China, and Taiwan. They also included 73 relatively healthy controls from Japan. They then used shotgun sequencing (a laboratory technique for determining the DNA sequence of an organism’s genome) to gain a better understanding of the microbial community and genetic makeup of each sample.
The scientists discovered a decrease in B2 and B7 vitamins in patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s. B vitamins promote the production and functions of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and polyamines.
“Supplementation of riboflavin and/or biotin is likely to be beneficial in a subset of Parkinson’s disease patients, in which gut dysbiosis plays pivotal roles,” the authors wrote in NPJ-Parkinson’s Disease.
The examination of fecal metabolites in Parkinson’s patients revealed a reduction in both components.
“Deficiencies in polyamines and SCFAs could lead to thinning of the intestinal mucus layer, increasing intestinal permeability, both of which have been observed in Parkinson’s,” said Hiroshi Nishiwaki, PhD, a professor at Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine and a lead researcher for the study, in the news release.
“This higher permeability exposes nerves to toxins, contributing to abnormal aggregation of alpha-synuclein, activating the immune cells in the brain, and leading to long-term inflammation,” he added.
The team surmises that the weakened protective layer in the gut exposes the intestinal nervous system to more of the toxins people experience in everyday life, such as chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides. These types of toxins lead to the overproduction of alpha-synuclein fibrils. These molecules are aggregates of the α-synuclein protein that form into long, thread-like structures which are primarily found in the brains of individuals with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.
Alpha-synuclein fibrils amass in dopamine-producing cells in the brain and increase the type of inflammation that leads to the debilitating motor skills and dementia symptoms of Parkinson’s.
Precision Medicine Analysis Suggested
Due to their research, the team proposes that high doses of vitamin B may help reduce the damage of toxins on the gut microbiome, help protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, and aid in the creation of personalized therapy plans for patients.
“We could perform gut microbiota analysis on patients or conduct fecal metabolite analysis,” Nishiwaki noted. “Using these findings, we could identify individuals with specific deficiencies and administer oral riboflavin and biotin supplements to those with decreased levels, potentially creating an effective treatment.”
The results of the Nagoya University study illustrate the importance of a healthy gut microbiome in the prevention of disease. Altering the bacterial level in the gut may enable doctors to stave off the progression of neurodegenerative illnesses like Parkinson’s disease.
Strikes could lead to delays or cancelations of as many as 123,000 clinical laboratory test across the nation’s healthcare system
Once again, New Zealand medical laboratory workers are returning to the picket line. On March 6, APEX, a specialist union representing more than 4,000 allied, scientific, and technical health professionals throughout New Zealand, issued a strike notice to “three corporate laboratory companies—Awanui, Pathlab, and Medlab,” according to an APEX news release.
“Over 850 laboratory scientists and technicians across New Zealand will take rolling strike action over seven days beginning on 22 March, with at least 123,000 patient tests impacted. Over 70% of New Zealand towns and cities including Tauranga, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Gisborne, Wellington and Dunedin will lose access to medical laboratory testing for their public hospital, or primary care system, or both for a minimum of 72 hours,” the news release notes.
“Pathlab staff across Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taupō will strike from March 24 until March 26, Awanui staff in Wellington and Canterbury will strike from March 25 until March 27, and Medlab workers in the MidCentral region will strike for a full week from March 22 until March 28. Auckland and the West Coast are the only regions where no labs are affected,” The Post reported.
“Those who use and rely on laboratory services need to brace for impact. We estimate that over 123,000 tests normally carried out as part of urgent or routine patient testing will not be performed during the week of strikes,” said Deborah Powell, MBChB, APEX National Secretary, in the news release.
“We are keen to work with the laboratory employers to resolve this dispute,” said Deborah Powell, MBChB (above), APEX National Secretary, in the news release. “Patients, clinicians, and laboratory workers are now stuck between the rock of underfunding and the hard place of corporate ownership of the medical laboratory sector. To avoid these rolling strikes, we need all parties to the dispute to work together to come up with a creative and sensible solution which works for everyone.” Clinical laboratories in the US may want to pay close attention to the struggles of their counterparts in New Zealand. (Photo copyright: New Zealand Doctor.)
Private Lab Ownership versus Public Funding
In February, more than 900 New Zealand medical laboratory workers nationwide walked off the job to protest “poor conditions and a lack of pay parity with the public sector,” according to the Otago Daily Times. Until now, that was the latest labor action in the ongoing struggle.
But those walkouts did not produce the results the union organizers had hoped.
“We didn’t get what we wanted at all,” Pathlab Tauranga senior medical laboratory scientist Steven Clements told NZ Herald. “We feel like there’s a lot of blame being passed between our employer and the government.”
Clements claimed the New Zealand government made its “standard statement” about it not being involved in private laboratory negotiations.
“They actually provide almost all of our funding, so we feel like the government hasn’t particularly listened. We also feel like our employer maybe isn’t really supporting us … so it’s led to another strike,” he said.
“We are in the weird situation where the employers agree with us,” said APEX National Secretary Powell, NZ Herald reported. “Pay parity between public and corporate employed lab scientists and technicians is the only fair, just, and sustainable solution to this dispute. Unfortunately, the lab triopoly are refusing pay parity without further government funding,” she added.
Disruptions in Care
As is the case with any strike, they are disruptive. During the February strikes, NZ Pathology Chairman, Peter Gootjes, DPH, director of the Awanui Group, told the New Zealand Doctor that they were trying to minimize any disruptions. The New Zealand Association of Pathology Practices (NZ Pathology), according to the organization’s website, is the “collective voice of New Zealand’s private sector laboratory providers, representing the views and aspirations of the funded pathology sector.”
“Our laboratories play an essential role in the provision of healthcare services, and we are working closely with the union, hospitals, and health professionals to ensure essential life-preserving services remain available and ongoing disruption to the community can be minimized,” Gootjes told New Zealand Doctor.
“Pathology sits at the heart of modern healthcare,” he continued. “Ensuring New Zealanders have access to quality, reliable, efficient and trusted pathology services is vital to patient care and public health. These services are a fundamental, yet often unseen, component of the clinical pathway for patients.
“We understand the concerns raised by APEX members and recognize the challenges posed by pay discrepancies following the previous government’s pay equity settlements for public sector employees. We are committed to working constructively with government and officials on this matter,” he said.
Pathlab, Health NZ Respond
In separate statements, Pathlab and Health NZ-Te Whatu Ora (New Zealand’s primary publicly funded healthcare system) attempted to address the APEX lab workers’ demands and assure the public.
“We value [APEX workers’] work and have engaged with APEX in good faith, doing everything we can within the funding we receive. … The problem is that private laboratories, including Pathlab, receive the vast majority of their funding through long-run bulk-funded contracts with Health NZ that pre-date the settlement and are inflexible when it comes to unforeseen cost increases, such as this one,” Pathlab’s chief executive Brian Millen stated, adding, “We remain committed to finding a workable solution while continuing to provide the high-quality services our communities rely on,” NZ Herald reported.
Health NZ, which, according to NZ Herald, “was aware Apex members were in collective bargaining … [but] not involved in this as they did not employ the private sector workforce,” sought to ensure that the strikes’ impact on hospitals and community healthcare services would be minimal.
“All our hospitals and emergency departments will remain open, and we are liaising with the private laboratories to ensure patients who require urgent and critical care receive the services they need, including testing carried out at hospitals and in the community,” said Health NZ, adding, “We respect the right of workers to take strike action and any questions about this matter should be directed to the employers or the union.”
Dark Daily has covered these ongoing strikes in many previous ebriefings. Clinical laboratory and pathology professionals in the United States should take note of their New Zealand counterparts’ recent and ongoing struggle for fair pay and safe working environments. America is no stranger to issues like these and our lab workers could find themselves in a similar situation.
