Cleveland’s MetroHealth System is turning around coronavirus test results in two hours. The Cleveland Clinic is doing it in as little as eight, and the Cleveland-based University Hospitals is returning next-day results for its highest-priority patients.
Why are Toledoans waiting up to eight days?
The difference largely lies in the ability to process tests onsite, Dr. Gary Procop, medical director of clinical virology at the Cleveland Clinic, explained to The Blade on Friday. His health system is not ultimately utilizing any different technology than what’s available to locals.
But the Cleveland Clinic is able to process the nasal swabs needed to test for coronavirus in an onsite laboratory, he said, saving them a significant amount of turnaround time compared to the majority of health care providers that are reliant on offsite public or private laboratories.
MetroHealth and University Hospitals are in all or some cases utilizing onsite laboratories as well, according to representatives.
Toledo-area hospitals do not currently have this ability, although it’s possible that they will in the future. As biotechnology companies continue to develop and release commercial testing equipment, Dr. Procop said he expects “more and more local testing will be able to be done.”
ProMedica is already looking into its options, Dr. Brian Kaminski said on Friday. He’s the vice president of quality and safety at ProMedica, as well as the medical director of the emergency department at ProMedica Flower Hospital in Sylvania.
“We are looking at that continuously, and it’s at the top of our list of our priorities,” Dr. Kaminski said. “We recognize the need and priority to test, and would like to have it here ASAP.”
ProMedica currently sends its swabs to out-of-state laboratories, which can only accept a designated number of samples each day. The logistics and the high-demand make for an average turnaround period of five to seven days, Dr. Kaminski said.
He said it’s too early in a rapidly changing environment to say when or in what form onsite testing could be available at ProMedica. Another challenge is that commercial testing equipment is currently in high demand, he said, so even if they were to order it now, they would have to wait for it to arrive, then set it up and train their staff in how to use it.
A spokesman for Mercy Health did not specifically reply to a question about the possibility of eventual onsite testing, but said in a statement that the health system has “a COVID-19 Task Force that is working around-the-clock to enable an agile response to this pandemic.”
A comment was not immediately available from the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio hosptial.
Cleveland’s MetroHealth was the first hospital in the state to obtain commercial equipment from Luminex, spokesman Timothy Magaw said in an email. MetroHealth announced on Tuesday that it would be able to turn around results in two hours with the new equipment.
The Cleveland Clinic and University Health are not using commercial testing equipment at this point, representatives said. They’re instead using the same methodology that’s being used in private laboratories and by the Ohio Department of Health, just with their own facilities and staff.
The Cleveland Clinic has been testing onsite since March 12, and University Hospitals have been testing onsite since March 13, according to representatives.
The limited availability of coronavirus tests has been a major point of concern across the United States. It’s the result of many factors, including an inability to meet demand for testing supplies such as chemical reagents, as well as an inability for laboratories to meet the demand to run tests.
The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department on Thursday announced that it was suspending the drive-through testing that had briefly been available to the public on a limited basis. Even with their quicker turnaround times, Northeast Ohio hospital systems are likewise largely limiting testing to high-priority patients such as medical professionals and those who are hospitalized.
The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department has asked locals not to fixate on testing, and Dr. Procop and Dr. Kaminski said in many cases individuals who develop nonlife threatening symptoms do not need to be tested, although they should still isolate themselves.
Dr. Procop explained that it’s important to test those who are hospitalized not necessarily because a diagnosis will change their course of treatment, but because it will enable medical staff to more appropriately use their limited personal protective equipment.
First Published March 20, 2020, 9:39 p.m.
