Blessing Health System issued the following announcement on May 14.
Blessing Health System has secured and will use two testing systems to provide rapid COVID-19 results to its patients. One of the systems is already in use as of this week. The other system is expected to be operational the week of May 18. Both systems return test results in under two hours.
“Blessing is committed to providing new ways to identify and care for patients affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Maureen Kahn, RN, MHA, MSN, President/Chief Executive Officer, Blessing Health System and Blessing Hospital. “As the region’s most comprehensive health care provider, we must be prepared to meet demand on a larger scale.”
“Right now and for the foreseeable future, healthcare providers around the country receive COVID-19 tests under allotment. That means the provider does not get the number of tests for which they ask. The provider gets the number of tests that federal and state regulators determine the provider needs,” said Eric Dix, director, Laboratory, Blessing Hospital. “Using two platforms, Blessing gets two allotments of COVID-19 tests and the opportunity to meet the needs of a greater number of patients.”
Even with two allotments of tests, Blessing Health System has a limited amount of testing supplies that need to be used strategically, in the best interest of public health. A physician team is finalizing guidelines for test use. Mary Frances Barthel, MD, Chief Quality and Safety Officer, Blessing Health System, says the team is developing guidelines for at least two patient groups, those who present to the Emergency Center with respiratory symptoms and patients needing urgent surgery, who now also may need to be tested for COVID-19.
“Since the pandemic began we have been shipping our tests out to two laboratories that deliver results in a couple of days,” she said. “This potential delay in their actual diagnosis - negative or positive- can delay appropriate care.”
“In addition, while we wait, the patient requires the use of precious isolation supplies when they may not need those resources if they are not COVID-19 positive,” Dr. Barthel continued. “The rapid results test will tell us exactly what type and level of care a patient needs sooner.”
“The Blessing Hospital Laboratory will now have two different, high quality, rapid testing platforms for the detection of COVID-19,” said Rex Schulz, MD, medical director, Laboratory, Blessing Hospital. “This gives the health system and its providers more flexibility and capacity to diagnosis and care for our patients.”
Visit blessinghealth.org/covid19 for the most up-to-date information about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Blessing Health System
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