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.
Vacancy rates in U.S. medical laboratories have declined since COVID-19 highs, but ASCP’s latest survey finds staffing levels remain well above pre-pandemic norms as retirements accelerate and recruitment challenges deepen.
The American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) 2024 Vacancy Survey shows that staffing conditions inside U.S. medical laboratories have improved modestly since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic but remain unresolved. Vacancy rates have declined compared with 2020–2022, yet they are still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, underscoring persistent recruitment and retention challenges that continue to affect laboratory operations nationwide.
Conducted every two years for the past 37 years, the ASCP Vacancy Survey is the most widely cited barometer of workforce conditions in laboratory medicine. The 2024 survey gathered responses from 1,027 laboratory leaders and human resources professionals, representing staffing data for 18,626 laboratory employees across the United States. Participants came from hospitals of all sizes, reference laboratories, academic medical centers, public health laboratories, blood centers, government facilities, and industry settings.
Retirements Accelerate as Workforce Recovery Remains Uneven
“Although vacancy rates are lower than those reported during the pandemic, laboratories are still operating under sustained workforce pressure,” the authors wrote. “The data suggest that recovery has been uneven and incomplete.”
Retirement trends emerged as a major concern. Ten of the 17 laboratory departments included in the survey reported rising retirement rates compared with previous cycles. As experienced professionals exit the workforce, laboratories face the dual challenge of replacing technical expertise while maintaining service levels amid already-elevated vacancy rates. Survey authors warned that retirements are accelerating faster than the pipeline of newly trained professionals entering the field.
AI Readiness and Workforce Gaps Vary Widely Across Laboratories
“Continued challenges in recruitment, combined with increasing retirements, pose a serious risk to long-term workforce stability,” the report stated. Without intervention, ASCP cautioned that shortages could deepen, particularly in highly specialized laboratory disciplines.
The survey also sheds light on how laboratory leaders are thinking about artificial intelligence. Respondents most frequently cited “adapting to emerging technologies” as their top concern related to AI adoption.
However, enthusiasm for AI’s potential to transform laboratory operations remains strong. Laboratories that had already implemented AI tools or provided AI training to staff reported significantly more optimism and confidence.
“Enthusiasm about AI was notably higher in laboratories that demonstrated AI proficiency among laboratory professionals and other experts,” the authors noted, suggesting that education and hands-on experience play a critical role in shaping perceptions of new technology.
Geographic and departmental trends further highlight workforce disparities. Blood bank and transfusion medicine departments accounted for the largest share of reported personnel, while flow cytometry represented the smallest. Regionally, the South Central Atlantic reported the highest participation, while the Central Southwest reported the lowest. The states with the most respondents were New York, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and California.
Testing volumes varied widely. Nearly 40% of respondents reported performing more than 100,000 clinical pathology tests annually, while fewer than one in five laboratories reported anatomic pathology volumes exceeding 50,000 cases per year, reflecting the diverse operational scales represented in the data.
New Analytics Underscore Urgent Need for Laboratory Workforce Advocacy
The 2024 survey also marked a methodological shift. ASCP transitioned its analysis from traditional statistical software to Python-based data processing, allowing for more flexible analysis and integration of qualitative feedback. According to the authors, this change enhances reproducibility and aligns the survey with modern data-science practices increasingly used in healthcare analytics.
Ultimately, the report calls for urgent, coordinated action. ASCP emphasized the need for stronger advocacy for laboratory professionals, expanded credentialing pathways, and increased investment in education and training programs. “There is an urgent need for advocacy on behalf of laboratory professionals and an increase in the number of laboratory education and training programs,” the authors stated.
For laboratory executives and pathologists, the message is clear: while the worst of the pandemic staffing crisis may be over, structural workforce challenges remain unresolved and without sustained attention, they threaten the long-term resilience of the nation’s diagnostic infrastructure.
Lawmakers are renewing efforts to tackle the national clinical lab staffing crisis with the reintroduction of the Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill that would expand training grants and loan forgiveness programs to strengthen the medical laboratory workforce.
Efforts to address the nation’s clinical laboratory staffing crisis have regained momentum with the reintroduction of the Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2025. The bipartisan legislation, introduced by Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) and Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC-02), seeks to bolster recruitment and retention across a profession facing severe shortages.
According to a September press release from Kiggans and Ross, the bill is designed to “address the nationwide shortage of clinical laboratory professionals” by expanding eligibility for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) to include medical laboratory personnel and establishing new federal grants for accredited colleges and universities to train future lab workers.
“Across the country, clinical laboratories face vacancy rates as high as 25%,” the release stated. “These shortages strain healthcare delivery, lead to longer wait times for patients, and contribute to burnout among existing lab staff.” The lawmakers noted that laboratory professionals are essential to healthcare operations, as “doctors depend on the diagnostic work done by laboratory professionals for nearly 70% of their medical decisions.”
“As a nurse practitioner, I know that access to quality healthcare depends on having the right professionals in place at every level,” said Congresswoman Kiggans in the press release. “That’s why I’m proud to join Congresswoman Deborah Ross on the Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act. This important legislation will add medical laboratory professionals to the National Health Service Corps and provide grants to accredited institutions to train more laboratory scientists and technicians.
Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) said, “Our nation faces a severe shortage of clinical laboratory professionals—a problem that will only worsen as our population ages. Without enough trained experts, our clinical labs cannot keep pace with the growing demand and complexity of medical testing, which is essential for diagnosing and treating patients. Investing in our medical laboratory workforce strengthens our health system, supports patients, and ensures we are prepared to meet future challenges.” (Photo credit: https://kiggans.house.gov/)
Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2024
The proposal is built upon the Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2024, introduced the previous year before the November elections, as reported by G2 Intelligence. The updated version continues provisions that would amend the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) to direct the Health and Human Services Secretary to identify areas suffering from shortages of qualified laboratory professionals and deploy NHSC members to those locations.
The act would also establish a Medical Laboratory Personnel Education Program, operated through grants and contracts awarded to accredited nonprofits, allied health schools, and hospitals. These funds would expand training capacity, support internships required for certification, and help recruit qualified faculty which have been longstanding barriers to increasing the pipeline of lab professionals.
In an interview with G2 Intelligence, Jim Flanigan, CAE, executive vice president of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS), said the act offers two major advantages: “the establishment of a federal grant program that would allow educational programs to expand the number of students they can train at a given time” and the inclusion of laboratory professionals in the NHSC, which would make them eligible for student loan forgiveness. “Both efforts will help in attracting individuals to the lab career path,” he said.
Rodney Rohde, PhD, MS, SM(ASCP)CM, SVCM, MBCM, FACSC, chair and professor of clinical laboratory science at Texas State University, told G2 Intelligence that he “cannot overemphasize the impact that establishing a program for lab personnel loan repayment will have for building our pipeline in recruiting and retention of students interested in the medical laboratory major and career path.” He added, “Laboratory testing follows patients throughout their lives, from cradle to grave, and it drives about two-thirds of all medical decisions made by doctors and other healthcare professionals.”
Despite the strong backing from organizations such as ASCLS, the Association for Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine, and the American Clinical Laboratory Association, the bill’s path forward remains uncertain amid fiscal restraint on Capitol Hill. “All programs that incur significant costs are going to face challenges in getting passed,” Flanigan noted.
Still, as G2 Intelligence reported, supporters see the act as a vital “investment in our public health and our invaluable laboratory workforce.”
With recruitment pressures mounting, national pathology societies are aligning on a unified approach that could benefit both applicants and clinical lab leadership.
Laboratory leaders play a central role in shaping the future pathology workforce—not only through daily operations and training, but by supporting broader efforts that impact recruitment, equity, and retention across the field. As workforce challenges continue to affect many institutions, a new joint statement from the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and 12 other national pathology organizations highlights an important step forward: standardizing the fellowship recruitment process across subspecialties.
“Our residents and fellows deserve a recruitment process that puts their needs first,” said CAP President Donald S. Karcher, MD, FCAP.
“By supporting this match effort, we’re advancing fairness, transparency, and a more unified future for our profession,” noted Donald S. Karcher, MD, FCAP. (Photo copyright: GW Cancer Center.)
Spearheaded by the Association for Academic Pathology (AAPath) Fellowship Directors Committee, the joint statement recommends participation in the 2027 match cycle, placing fellows into programs for the 2028–29 academic year. Several subspecialties—including Hematopathology, Molecular Genetic Pathology, and Forensic Pathology—have already committed to joining by the 2026–27 cycle.
Future Workforce Planning
For clinical lab leaders involved in workforce planning, aligning recruitment timelines may offer benefits such as improved coordination, greater equity for applicants, and a more structured approach to fellow selection. Survey data cited in the joint statement indicate that “a substantial majority (~85%) of trainees desire a standardized timeline for fellowship recruitment,” with a similar percentage of program directors supporting broader interview opportunities before applicants make decisions.
Additionally, programs that bypass a coordinated process “are discouraged from asking for a commitment from any applicant before the common date chosen by the subspecialty”—a recommendation designed to curb early-offer dynamics that “harm, or perceive harm,” to programs aligned with the common timeline.
CAP emphasizes that this move is part of its larger workforce strategy. “This initiative builds on its broader advocacy to improve training, recruitment, and retention across the specialty,” the organization stated.
Given ongoing concerns about trainee experience and consistency across programs, clinical laboratory leaders may be encouraged to support efforts that promote fair and sustainable fellowship recruitment practices across pathology subspecialties.
Some of the former employees worked for public health labs involved in tracking HIV, hepatitis, and STDs
More than 450 federal employees who were laid off from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during the April cutbacks are being reinstated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Nearly half (214) worked for the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention (NCHHSTP), which includes specialized public health laboratories. Another 158 worked at the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH). Others were employed by the Immediate Office of the Director and Global Health Center.
“I think people are very tacitly hopeful that this means they can get their jobs back and continue serving in ways that they love,” NCEH health scientist Kathryn Sisler, MPH, told NPR. “But there has been so much instability and chaos that I think a lot of people would hesitate to say it is good news.”
Sisler, who works in NCEH’s Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice, received an email notification of her reinstatement on June 11, NPR reported.
She described the rehiring as “a step in the right direction,” but noted that she was among some employees in her division who had moved away from Atlanta, where the CDC is based. “Other employees had taken other jobs or had been offered them,” NPR reported.
In an interview with NPR, Scott Becker, CEO of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, admitted to being “happily flabbergasted” to hear about HHS’ offer to rehire the former federal workers. (Photo copyright: Association of Public Health Laboratories.)
Impact at Critical Labs
As part of the cutbacks, the CDC shut down two laboratories at NCHHSTP that were involved in tracking viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases, even as “some of those scientists performed disease surveillance work unlike any other labs in the world,” NPR noted.
NCHHSTP staffers told NPR that some of the division’s labs were damaged due to the “lapse in activity” during April and May, and that “some disease outbreaks had not been properly tracked.” One employee said that, due to the cutbacks, the division’s hepatitis lab was unable to assist health workers tracking a hepatitis C outbreak in Florida. The CDC employees requested anonymity.
“It’s great to see that there is some recognition of the importance of these workers and that being in those positions is critical for the public health of America and that they are being reinstated in order to continue their important work,” Carmen J. Marsit, PhD, of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, told NPR. He added, however, that “there’s still a lot of people that are not being reinstated.”
HIV Not Being Tracked
KFF Health News reported that the reinstatements included “dozens of HIV experts” who were laid off in April. At the time, they were working on a national survey conducted among 30,000 individuals at risk of acquiring the infection. They haven’t been told if the project will resume.
Public health departments use data from the survey as part of their efforts to reduce spread of the disease, KFF Health News stated, noting that “preventing HIV is far cheaper than treating people once they’re infected.”
Since the cutbacks, many HIV researchers at CDC have obtained new jobs or moved. Some employees “called the reinstatements perplexing because the notices don’t say what they’ll be doing when they return and for how long,” KFF Health News reported.
“I am concerned about how many of the people have already moved on or might move on and the trauma that they really must be going through with the uncertainty,” Scott Becker, CEO of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, told NPR about the reinstatements at CDC. “But all in all, it’s good news and I’ll take it.”
Programs Cut by Mistake
The reinstatements amount to approximately 20% of the 2,400 CDC employees laid off following the March 27 announcement of a massive restructuring at HHS.
HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. told ABC News in early April that some programs had been cut by mistake. “Personnel that should not have been cut were cut—we’re reinstating them, and that was always the plan,” he said.
In May, Kennedy said that 328 employees of the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) would be reinstated, NPR reported, following “considerable pushback from labor organizations and congressional lawmakers.”
NPR and other outlets had earlier reported that HHS planned to cut at least 900 NIOSH employees, amounting to 90% of the institute’s workforce.
For the past 14 years, healthcare spending as a percentage of US gross domestic product has stayed flat—17.2% in 2010 compared to 17.8% in 2024—according to numbers presented by Robert Michel, editor-in-chief of Dark Daily and founder of the Executive War College.
“This is not auspicious for either the vendor side of the clinical laboratory business or providers,” Michel told attendees during the conference’s opening session.
“Clinical laboratories all must watch for opportunities to earn revenue through new business models,” said Robert Michel (above), editor-in-chief of Dark Daily. Michel spoke during a general session at the 2025 Executive War College on Diagnostics, Clinical Laboratory, and Pathology Management in New Orleans. (Photo copyright: LabX.)
Spending Blockades Will Push New Business Models for Labs
Michel ran through a series of other, similarly grim statistics that put hard numbers on trends that many laboratory executives and owners already suspected:
Half of Americans have less than $500 in a savings account, according to a January 2025 survey by GOBankingRates.com. Those people face tough financial decisions, including whether to postpone healthcare testing and treatment, Michel said.
Growth in Medicare spending by beneficiary generally stopped in 2010 and remained flat at around $12,500 per beneficiary as of 2023.
“Social Security and Medicaid are going to go broke sooner rather than later,” Michel predicted. “Congress has seen this problem and not reacted.”
Such financial challenges will force the need for new clinical laboratory business models. Among the key areas that will inspire these models are diagnostic data and technology, said Sam Terese, CEO and president at Alverno Laboratories, during his general session at the Executive War College.
“It comes back to using data to predict disease,” Terese explained. “If you can prevent someone from getting seriously ill, you will lower the cost of care.”
Terese pointed out the need to effectively use artificial intelligence (AI) to digest the massive amount of clinical data that labs sit on.
Another New Clinical Laboratory Business Model: Closing Care Gaps
Diagnostic laboratories should also be in the business of identifying care gaps among their patients and consumers. One subset to consider is diabetic and prediabetic people.
“Can the lab identify an A1C patient who should have come in to see their doctor based on the test result?” Michel asked. That type of approach raises the value of a lab test beyond just the result it produced, he added.
During another general session, Sonora Quest Laboratories showed how it determines risk stratification for colorectal cancer by using an algorithm that considers a patient’s age, gender, and minimum of two complete blood count test results to flag at-risk people.
“We’re able to get information to physicians to close that care gap,” said Jen Umscheid, senior director of quality, innovation, and performance excellence at Sonora Quest.
The Executive War College continues through Thursday, with an expected attendance of just over 1,000 delegates, speakers, and vendor representatives. Friday’s Dark Daily will explore how AI topics played out among curious attendees.
