Tobacco & Nicotine Dependence pathway coming soon

In celebration of National Non-Smoking Week, Primary Care Alberta’s Provincial Pathways Unit will be launching pathway work related to tobacco and nicotine dependence. In partnership with PCA’s Tobacco, Vaping & Cannabis team and AlbertaQuits, this clinical pathway is expected to be ready for use by end of March 2026, with a patient pathway to follow.

Influenza update: Slowing the spread

As influenza continues to spread across the province, Alberta acute care facilities are seeing high volumes of infected patients.

According to Alberta’s respiratory virus dashboard, as of Dec. 18, there are 6,069 cases of laboratory-confirmed seasonal influenza cases in the province, with 1,079 hospitalizations, 73 ICU admissions and 34 deaths.

We as primary care professionals can help take the pressure off hospital teams by encouraging patients to take action on prevention and self-care.

What patients can do

Please continue to encourage your patients and clients to follow public health guidelines, including:

Wash hands regularly
Stay home when sick
Get immunized:

At public health clinics:

Immunization rates tend to decline over the holidays: many appointments are available over the next two weeks.
Appointments for children aged six months up to and including four years and their families are available at public health clinics.
Appointments can be booked online or through Health Link at 811.

At pharmacies: Influenza immunizations are also readily available at Alberta pharmacies.

Please post posters!

Attached to this newsletter is a printable poster you can put up in clinics or other areas where patients or clients are present. Thank you for your help spreading the word!

Addressing patient concerns about immunization

If patients are unsure about the value of getting immunized this year, here is information to inform those conversations.

Although this year’s vaccine may not be a perfect match for this season’s new subclade of H3N2, it’s worth getting immunized. This year’s influenza season is still in relatively early days, so it’s not fully clear yet which strains will have the most effect on our population. In addition, data out of the UK is showing that this year’s vaccine is providing significant protection for a variety of age ranges.

Not only does the vaccine provide important protection against influenza; it may provide indirect protection to other people by reducing transmission. Some individuals may not have symptoms of influenza, yet they can transmit the illness unknowingly.

Important Connect Care update: Selecting location for results delivery

If you’re a primary care provider working at more than one clinical location, it’s important to review the primary location assigned to you in Connect Care – because results for tests ordered in Connect Care and cc’d results will often be sent to your primary delivery location.

For details on how to review and understand your primary location, please refer to this one-pager.

New pathways from Provincial Pathways Unit

In 2026, Primary Care Alberta’s Provincial Pathways Unit will release new priority pathways identified through a survey recently conducted with the primary care community, including the Perimenopause and Menopause Primary Care Pathway and the Pediatric Autism Spectrum Disorder Primary Care Pathway.
Additionally, in partnership with Cancer Care Alberta, four new Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer diagnosis pathways have launched:

These initiatives aim to improve early detection and enhance patient care across Alberta’s healthcare system.

Important Lab bulletin: Lipoprotein (a) testing issue

Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) has announced that effective immediately, lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] is temporarily unavailable, and there is currently no alternative method available. APL is working with the vendor to address the issue, but Lp(a) results will be delayed. The resumption date will be communicated by APL on its lab bulletin site as soon as testing is available.

If possible, primary care providers should defer Lp(a) requests until after the shortage resolves. If an Lp(a) result is required urgently, please contact the laboratory.

Read the full lab bulletin.

Lab bulletin: New colposcopy pathology requisition

Alberta Precision Laboratories is asking all Alberta clinicians to use the new provincial Colposcopy Pathology Requisition #22272 (2025-12) form. All legacy/zone requisitions should be discarded or archived.

Read the full lab bulletin.

Lab bulletin: Process change for contacting primary care provider about sickle cell disease

As of Dec. 22, 2025, the on-call pediatric hematologist is responsible for contacting the primary care provider and ensuring the appropriate diagnostic testing and follow-up are initiated. This is a change from the current practice, where the ordering provider would contact the hematologist on call to make a plan for contacting the family.

Read the full lab bulletin.

Lab bulletin: (Grand Prairie area) Cessation of rapid syphilis and HIV antibody testing at Grand Prairie Hospital lab

As of Oct. 31, 2025, rapid syphilis and HIV antibody testing has been discontinued at the acute care APL laboratory, Grande Prairie Regional Hospital, due to a lack of uptake.

Read the full lab bulletin.

Lab bulletin: (Calgary Zone) New contact information for fine needle aspirate requisition

The contact information for Calgary Zone has been updated on the laboratory fine needle aspiration clinic patient referral requisition. All previous requisitions, 22224 (2025-02), should be discarded and replaced with the revised version, 22224 (2025-12) form.

Note that the phone number has been changed to 403-943-5642. The fax number has been changed to 403-291-2931.

Fine needle aspirate samples and requests must be submitted in accordance with the following laboratory policy:

Read the full lab bulletin.