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Primary Care Alberta Clinical Updates - April 16, 2026
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COVID-19 vaccines available for eligible AlbertansThe Government of Alberta has announced that as of April 7, eligible Albertans can receive an additional COVID-19 immunization at no cost through participating local pharmacies and Primary Care Alberta public health clinics.
COVID-19 circulates year-round and can lead to serious illness, particularly for older adults and those with underlying health conditions, so some individuals may benefit from receiving two immunizations per year to support stronger and longer-lasting protection.
The following groups are eligible: - Adults 80 years of age and older
- Adult residents of long-term care homes and other congregate living settings for seniors
- Individuals six months of age and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised due to an underlying condition or treatment
- Adults 65 to 79 years of age with underlying medical conditions that place them at higher risk of severe COVID-19.
Albertans are encouraged to speak with their primary care provider to determine the best immunization plan for their needs.
For details on booking appointments and more information, read the full bulletin.
Specialty advice available at your fingertips - use eConsult today
Calling all providers who need specialty advice! Have you sent an eConsult through Alberta Netcare eReferral? Submit a non-urgent request for advice via eConsult and you’ll receive a response within five calendar days.
Why use it? - Information like demographics and diagnostic imaging already in Alberta Netcare can be reviewed and leveraged when submitting your eConsult.
- Submit an eConsult any time it’s convenient to you — it’s available 24/7, 365 days a year.
- In many cases, an eConsult can support patients and providers by reducing the time spent waiting for specialty care. eConsult may prevent a referral from entering the system.
- If a face-to-face consult is required, an eConsult can better prepare the patient or initiate treatment prior to the appointment.
- It’s billable.
Tobacco & nicotine dependence pathway
The Provincial Pathways Unit (PPU), in partnership with AlbertaQuits and the Tobacco, Vaping, & Cannabis team at Primary Care Alberta, has launched the Provincial Tobacco and Nicotine Dependence Primary Care Clinical Pathway.
This pathway was co-designed to support primary care teams to identify, assess and manage tobacco and nicotine dependence using the 5A’s: Ask, advise, assess, assist and arrange. A corresponding patient pathway summary is also being developed and is expected to be available in May 2026.
Feedback Opportunity:
The PPU is seeking support from primary care providers to review the Tobacco and Nicotine Dependence pathway and share feedback at albertapathways@primarycarealberta.ca.
Update to immunocompromised HPV primary screening pathway (ages 50 to 69)
Effective Feb. 26, all immunocompromised patients with any high-risk HPV detected result are to be referred directly to colposcopy, regardless of reflex cytology findings.
This change reflects the higher risk of persistent HPV infection and faster progression to cervical disease in immunocompromised individuals. Updated pathways are now in effect across all screening workflows.
What providers need to do - Refer all immunocompromised patients with high-risk HPV Other strain detected or indeterminate result to colposcopy, including those with normal or low grade reflex cytology.
- Include both the HPV test result and reflex cytology result on the colposcopy referral.
- Replace any previously downloaded HPV primary screening pathway documents with the updated version (date on the document is March 2026).
- Clearly indicate immunocompromised status on the cervical screening test order or requisition.
- Additional clinical resources are available in the health providers section on screeningforlife.ca.
Lab bulletins
Click on the links below to view the full lab bulletins:
Effective Feb. 19, if ammonia is ordered at an acute care site that does not perform testing onsite, samples will be frozen and sent on scheduled couriers. This is a change from being automatically sent by stat transportation, and applies to Edmonton area suburban hospitals. A list of impacted sites is available in the lab bulletin. If results for ammonia are required stat at the impacted sites, please contact the laboratory to request stat transportation.
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Effective Feb. 19, if ammonia is ordered at an acute care site that does not perform testing onsite, samples will be frozen and sent on scheduled couriers. This is a change from being automatically sent by stat transportation, and applies to Edmonton area suburban hospitals. A list of impacted sites is available in the lab bulletin. If results for ammonia are required stat at the impacted sites, please contact the laboratory to request stat transportation.
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Effective Feb. 19, if ammonia is ordered at an acute care site that does not perform testing onsite, samples will be frozen and sent on scheduled couriers. This is a change from being automatically sent by stat transportation, and applies to Edmonton area suburban hospitals. A list of impacted sites is available in the lab bulletin. If results for ammonia are required stat at the impacted sites, please contact the laboratory to request stat transportation.
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Effective Feb. 19, if ammonia is ordered at an acute care site that does not perform testing onsite, samples will be frozen and sent on scheduled couriers. This is a change from being automatically sent by stat transportation, and applies to Edmonton area suburban hospitals. A list of impacted sites is available in the lab bulletin. If results for ammonia are required stat at the impacted sites, please contact the laboratory to request stat transportation.
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