For 23 years, Kimberly has worked as a Laboratory Technician, with nearly 20 years at Dynacare. Throughout that time, she has become a familiar, reassuring presence at the River East Laboratory and Health Services Centre (LHSC) – someone patients can count on for skill, compassion, and a little humour to ease their day.
At the lab, Kimberly sees her primary role as making every patient feel as comfortable as possible. Whether she’s chatting with her patients or inventing stories about the pictures on the wall, her goal is always the same: reduce fear and make the lab experience better for every person who walks through the door.
A typical day for Kimberly starts at 7:15 AM. and doesn’t slow down until her shift ends at 3:15 PM. During that time, she will see and process between 30 and 50 patients each day. Along with drawing blood and preparing samples for transport, she also checks over requisitions and enters demographics into the computer.
“We do it all, moving through all areas during the day. Each of us has our favourite part – mine is being in the room one-on-one with my patients.”
Before pursuing a career in healthcare, Kimberly was a stay-at-home mom. When her son went to school, she started exploring various career options, eventually choosing the Laboratory Technician program after learning it would be in high demand. She hasn’t looked back since.
“I love my job. I love what I do.”
Her favourite on-the-job moments are when she helps change a patient’s perspective—especially children having their blood drawn for the first time. The fear, the bargaining, the tears… followed by surprise when it’s over, saying “that’s it?”.
“Every time I can take away some of their fear, I consider that to be a success story,” she says.
Kimberly says the most challenging parts of her job are long wait times for patients and managing their frustrations with booking appointments. She works hard to help people navigate the system as smoothly as possible.
Systemically, Kimberly says Manitoba’s biggest health-care challenge is staffing. Teams are pushed to their limits, and burnout is a constant concern. If she could change one thing, she would make education and training for frontline health professionals affordable to help boost recruitment. She says Lab Technician programs offered by private colleges have skyrocketed in cost over the past 24 years, making the field harder to access for new learners.
Outside of work, Kimberly is a voracious reader, and reads approximately a book a day in her spare time.
