Renown Health In-House Lab Now Processing COVID-19 Tests for Patients and Care Providers

Expanded test processing capabilities is resulting in faster test results, lessening the load on the state lab, and helping keep patients, care providers and the community safe.

Renown Health announced today that its in-house laboratory isnow able to process up to 500 COVID-19 tests for hospital patients and care providers each day.Theorganizationhasinvestedinexpandedtestprocessingcapabilitiestobetterservethecommunityamidthecoronaviruspandemic,andtoincreasetestingavailableacrossthestate.

Next month, Renown anticipates continuing to further expand testing capacity and doubling itscapacitytobeabletoprovide1,000testsperdayinpreparationforthecontinuedresponsetothepandemic.

“TheCOVID-19pandemicisnotgoingaway-itisstillwithus.Iamconcernedbythenumberofnewcases and hospitalizations we are seeing across northern Nevada. We must do more testing. Weneed broader capabilities around making sure we have broad-scale surge testing available, so wecan help people identify if they have COVID-19 or not,” said Tony Slonim, MD, DrPH, Renown’sPresident&CEO.“IfIcouldtest60,000peopleinnorthernNevadaforCOVID-19,likewedidfortheHealthyNevadaProject,wecouldbetterunderstandwithdataandfactstheproportionofpeoplewhoactuallyhave COVID-19versusthosethatjusthave the snifflesandacold.”

Launchedin2016,theHealthyNevadaProjecthttps://healthynv.org/isacommunity-basedpopulationstudywherefreegenetictestingisprovidedtothousandsofNevadanstolearnaboutthehealthofthecommunityand each person’sgenetic risks.

As of Tuesday, 2,286 people in northern Nevada have been tested, and positive cases werenearing700.SeventyfourpeopleinnorthernNevadahavedied;1,526haverecovered.https://www.washoecounty.us/

Dr. Slonim says it would help him and others make important decisions and plans for coronaviruswithevidence.Hewantstobeabletotestmanymoreindividuals acrossnorthernNevada.

“Testingispivotalupstream,soyoucanpreventconsequencesdownstream,”saidDawnD.Ahner,DSc, FACHE, Chief Operating Officer – Renown Acute Services. “By processing our own tests,we’ve reduced the turnaround to receive results to just 12-24 hours, which will have a profoundlypositiveimpactonourcommunity, andlightenstheload onthe Statelab.

“Testing is an incredibly important tool in our fight against coronavirus,” said Tim Stephens, vicepresident of ancillary services. “There's no 100% perfect test, however, the PCR tests are soincredibly sensitive, that when done perfectly, have a very low false-positive rate. Certified labslikeRenown’s use anumberofprocedurestoreduce theriskoffalsetestresults.”

“Theexpansionofourlab’snewtestingcapabilitiesduringthistimeisatestamenttotheinnovativeand important work being done here at Renown,” said Erik Olson, CEO of Renown RegionalMedical Center. “Throughout the pandemic, our ancillary team, which includes services likelaboratory, radiology and pharmacy, has been quick to adapt to the needs of our patients and ourcommunity.Iampleasedthatweareabletogeneratecriticaltestresultsforpatientsandprovidersas we continuethefightagainstCOVID-19andgo theextramileforsafety.”

Going the extra mile for safety

As an added safety measure, acute hospital patients; patients preparing for surgery, and care providers who may have come into contact with those positive for COVID-19, are among those that receive mandatory PCR testing from Renown at this time. For patients receiving hospital care, these tests help determine if patients should be placed in a designated area of the hospital to mitigate the risk of transmission to those not infected. Furthermore, all surgery patients are tested ahead of their surgery and self-quarantine prior to their surgical procedure at Renown Regional Medical Center and Renown South Meadows Medical Center.

How do PCR tests work?

PCRtestsuseasampleofmucustypicallytakenfromaperson'snoseorthroat.Thetestlooksforthegeneticmaterialofthecoronavirus,usingatechnologycalledPCRtodetectiftheviralgeneticmaterialispresent.Thoseactivelyinfectedwiththeviruswillshowtheexistenceofthatmaterial.

Individuals who think they should be tested for COVID-19 are encouraged to call their medicalprovider orcontacttheWashoeCountyHealthDistrict at775-328-2427forariskassessment.

Forup-to-dateinformationonRenown’sapproachtokeepingourcommunitysafe,visitourwebsiteatrenown.org/covid-19/.

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AboutRenownHealth

Renown Health is a locally governed and locally owned, not-for-profit integrated healthcare network serving northernNevada, Lake Tahoe and northeast California. Renown is one of the region’s largest private employers with a workforceof more than 7,000. It comprises three acute care hospitals, Renown Children’s Hospital, Renown Rehabilitation Hospital,the area’s most comprehensive medical group and urgent care network, and the region’s largest and only locally ownednot-for-profit insurance company, Hometown Health. Renown has a long tradition and commitment to continually improvethe careand thehealthofourcommunity.Formoreinformation,visit renown.org.