Press release from Madison Health & Rehabilitation:
Madison Health & Rehabilitation, a skilled nursing facility in Madison County, has partnered with CommunityLab for weekly COVID-19 surveillance testing of about 95 staff members.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, long-term care facilities (including skilled nursing facilities) are at high risk for SARS-CoV-2 spreading among their residents due to their congregate nature and population served. If infected with SARS-CoV-2, skilled nursing facility residents—often older adults with underlying medical conditions—are at increased risk for severe illness.
“The frequency of COVID-19 testing for our staff depends on the percent positivity rate for the county,” said Haley Niebes, Administration at Madison Health & Rehabilitation. “If the positivity rate in the county is less than 10 percent, then we test our staff weekly. That is where we are right now. However, if it drops below 5 percent, then we can test once monthly.”
The COVID-19 testing performed by CommunityLab is PCR testing via nasopharyngeal swab collection. CommunityLab manages a courier service to pick-up samples from Madison Health & Rehab and quickly deliver the specimens to its lab in Arden for processing the results.
Niebes stated that one of the key reasons she decided to partner with CommunityLab was due to its courier service for specimen pick-up which mitigated any potential hiccups of working with a third-party courier service like Fedex.
“We typically get results from CommunityLab in less than 24 hours which is a huge plus,” said Niebes. “Getting fast results can possibly help save someone’s life.”
About CommunityLab:
CommunityLab, a division of Sanesco, specializes in molecular and diagnostic laboratory testing. CommunityLab is devoted to improving health, wellness, and quality of life for all people and communities in WNC. The development of CommunityLab and collaboration with the WNC community is driven by the targeted investment and support of Dogwood Health Trust.Sanesco International Inc. is a global leader providing specialty, neuroendocrine laboratory testing for healthcare providers, hospital networks, reference laboratories, and research partners for over a decade. Sanesco’s high-complexity, CLIA-certified clinical laboratory has tested hundreds of thousands of patients, amassing one of the largest repositories of human stress response data. Most importantly, Sanesco is driven by its mission to improve quality of life.
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