LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services CEO Sue Paish confirmed to Business in Vancouver April 2 that she has closed the deal to buy BC Biomedical Laboratories Ltd., following approvals from the Federal Competition Bureau and the B.C. government.
Both LifeLabs and BC Biomedical operate patient service centres, where staff members perform tasks such as drawing blood. The company also operates three labs that do tests and diagnoses. It also has homecare and long-term care visit staff.
"As we bring the organization together, we will find synergies, but we will not reduce patient access," Paish said. "At present, it's business as usual."
LifeLabs previously operated 80 patient service centres and BC Biomedical operated 45.
The expectation is that the combined company will now provide more than 25 million laboratory tests a year in B.C.
LifeLabs is B.C.'s largest independent community laboratory network and it has head offices in both B.C. and Ontario.
"I have two homes now," Paish said. "I maintain a home in Vancouver and an apartment in Toronto. Our executive team is balanced between B.C. and Ontario. We have some B.C.-based executives and some Ontario-based executives."
