Allina Health is navigating a change in lab service providers that’s causing disruptions to care staff and patients. 

“Quest Diagnostics” is now providing laboratory services in most Allina clinics.

The turnaround time for lab results is critical for some patients. A Hastings mother said her daughter’s health depends on it.

Ava Jean is more familiar with lab tests and needles than an 11-year-old girl should be.

“She’s a trooper about everything,” Alison Morland, Ava’s mother, said.

A few years ago, Ava was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Morland is depending on lab results to get her daughter medicine that could change her life.

“It’s terrible. It’s excruciating when your baby’s hurt, you want to wave your magic mommy wand and fix it, and you can’t,” Morland said.

She took her daughter to Allina Health for tests.

Morland said after a couple of days, a few results came back from the lab, but others took over a week and she’s still not sure if they’re all finished.

“It was not done fast, and we are still trying to chase after this drug to control her seizures that damage her brain,” Morland said. “The more seizures she has, the more damage it does to her brain. She went from a fourth grade reading level to a first grade reading level in a matter of about eight or nine months due to seizure activity.”

On September 16th, Allina Health transitioned lab services in most of its clinics to “Quest Diagnostics.”

In a letter earlier this week, healthcare officials admitted this lab transition is not going as planned.

On Wednesday in a statement, they acknowledged that some disruptions and delays in lab results notifications may have impacted patients and care teams.

But Allina said they’re seeing daily improvements. They added additional lab staff and bolstered training for care providers.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS medical expert Archelle Georgiou explained patients should get a list of the lab tests from their doctor to ensure all the results come back.

“Talk to your doctor about the urgency of the lab test results and ask them if they think that you should get it done at another lab rather than get it done in the Allina System,” she said.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS heard from another Allina patient who explained she waited for three hours total to get her labs done, as she witnessed a technician struggle to figure out what tests were ordered.

Allina Health said in a statement they still have work to do and apologized for any delays or disruptions.

The full statement from Allina Health and Quest Diagnostics can be read below:

Allina Health transitioned lab services in most of our clinics to Quest Diagnostics on Monday, Sept. 16. This change is large and complex, and we acknowledge that some disruptions and delays have impacted our patients and care teams. While we have more work to do, we are encouraged by the daily improvements we are seeing. For example, after initial IT issues, we’ve restored connectivity at all of our clinics. We have also added additional lab staff and bolstered training for care providers.

The safety of patients is our top priority. Quest and Allina Health are communicating with impacted patients and apologize for any delays and disruptions that they have experienced. We are grateful for our care teams and clinical leaders who have been working to ensure patients get the care they need.

Quest Diagnostics sent KSTP the following statement:

“The Allina Health transition of lab services is highly complex and we have experienced some initial challenges. We are making daily progress and the Quest Diagnostics and Allina Health teams are working closely to ensure service meets our high standards going forward. For instance, all Allina Health clinics now have connectivity following initial IT challenges and we’ve added lab staff to help serve patients.“