Laboratory Services

We help families, caregivers and patients by providing important lab tests to better understand their health.

Hospital information

Laboratory Services is part of BC Children's Hospital. We offer a variety of tests, including blood and urine tests and other lab analyses. These tests help diagnose health conditions in infants, children and youth.

Our priority is delivering accurate and timely results to inform effective patient care. Our team works with your child or youth's doctors so that they have accurate test information to guide treatment and care.

Referral information

You need a requisition from your health-care provider to use our laboratory services.

Appointment details

In most cases, your clinic will book your child’s lab appointments. If you are booking your own appointment or need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, please call 604-875-2139 and choose option 2.

Outpatient appointments

Outpatient appointments are only available for patients with provider orders for:

Sweat test collections 
Oral glucose tolerance testing
Child Life specialist-assisted collections

Given the unpredictable nature of working with pediatric patients, we are unable to schedule routine blood draws at this location. Our collection lab is available for walk-in services only.

Preparing for your visit

What to bring

Your child’s BC Services Card (provincial health number)
Your child’s lab requisition

Please review the requisition to make sure it includes the following information:

Full name, contact information (including address) and MSP number of the doctor ordering these tests. Note: we do not accept requisitions from naturopaths
Correct information about your child or youth, including legal name, date of birth, BC Services Card number, and gender.  If there is an error, please contact the doctor who gave you the requisition. They will need to correct the error before we can do the tests
Check that the doctor who gave you the requisition has signed and dated it. Sometimes your doctor will delegate the signature to someone else in their office. Electronic signatures are acceptable
Review the requisition to see if your child or youth needs to fast for any of the tests. Your doctor may have written the number of hours to fast on the requisition. If not, they should fast for 10-12 hours before you come to the lab. That means they are not allowed to eat or drink anything during that time. The only exceptions are water and medications

Prepare your child

Some children and youth experience distress, pain and fear before laboratory appointments. BC Children’s Hospital has prepared information and resources to help make the visit more comfortable for your child or youth.

We have certified Child Life specialists on staff. They can help to reduce stress and make visits to the laboratory a more positive experience for children. Visit the Child Life page to learn more.

We have prepared two information booklets to help children and teens prepare for their visit:

Prepare for your test

Visit Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services  for details about preparing for a test. You will find instructions on collecting samples, including how to collect an infant urine bag.

Results

The doctor who ordered the tests will receive your child or youth's results and will talk to you about any next steps.

If you would like to receive a copy of your laboratory results:

Children under 16: to request information from your child's medical file, print the release of information form (PDF)
- Once complete, fax or mail the form to the hospital where you are making the request
- The release of information form includes instructions and a contact list
- For privacy reasons, do not send personal medical information by email
- Please note: due to the volume of requests, it may take four weeks or more to process release of information
Youth 16 and older: MyCareCompass offers a fast and secure method for patients to receive their results electronically. MyCareCompass is a free service

Contact us

Address:
Room 2F40 (second floor)
BC Children's Hospital
4480 Oak Street
Vancouver, BC
V6H 3V4

Phone: 604-875-2139
Fax: 604-875-3134

Directions:

We are on the second floor of the BC Children’s Hospital main building
From entrance 11 off Oak Street, take the elevators opposite the gift shop to the second floor
Exit left from the elevators and go left again immediately
Walk down the long hallway towards the overhead sign marked “Blood Collection Laboratory”
Enter the lab through sliding glass doors surrounded by a wall mural

We offer services from Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Note, we do not offer services on Saturday, Sunday and statutory holidays.

Online booking is currently not available.