Testing for COVID-19 at Allen County Regional Hospital has adapted to ever-changing circumstances, from initial concerns about a shortage in testing supplies to restrictions on who can be tested and even to the whims of Mother Nature when winds destroyed an outdoor tent where drive-up testing had been set up.
Most of those hurdles have been overcome. ACRH has plenty of testing kits. Qualifications for the test have been expanded, though tests are still restricted to those with doctors’ orders.
And plans to erect another tent were abandoned in favor of a cabin-like structure situated on the northwest side of hospital grounds.
The cabin is to be used during inclement weather. Otherwise, lab technicians will test patients while they remain in their cars.
After strong winds bent the tent’s poles early last week, hospital staff planned to rent another one. Instead they went with the wood structure provided by Iola Police Officer Mike Ford, who has a side rental business. The 90-day rental is actually cheaper than a tent, said Tracy Plumless, public relations director for the hospital.
In a week’s time the hospital has conducted seven tests for COVID-19.
The cabin provides several benefits, Michel Meyers, laboratory director, said, including better protection for personal protection equipment.
And in the cases of inclement weather, the new site helps keep patients from entering the hospital.
“At the lab, we see so many who are immuno-compromised, especially oncology patients,” Alicia Koehn, lead laboratory scientist, said. “It’s best we try to keep them isolated.”
Also, some of the equipment can be locked inside the cabin, without having to transport it back and forth from the hospital.
“We feel much safer having this,” Meyers said.
The hospital has supplies to test a few hundred patients, Meyers said. Both oral and nasal tests can be conducted. Most patients prefer the oral test. In those cases, patients must refrain from eating, drinking or smoking at least two hours before being tested.
Drive-up testing is available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
ALLEN COUNTY has conducted 216 COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began, with no positive cases, according to Wednesday’s report from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. That’s a rate of 17.5 per 1,000 residents, which is about average for counties in Southeastern Kansas. In the initial weeks of the pandemic, Allen County led testing rates in the region. Local health officials say they are testing everyone who qualifies and testing has increased in recent weeks as the qualifications were changed.
Only those who obtain orders from a physician or surgeon can be tested. A physician may order a test because a patient shows symptoms like fever, cough or shortness of breath or other symptoms; or prior to surgery; or for other criteria.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
