Janesvilles two hospitals are working to secure equipment and supplies needed to process COVID-19 tests on site, which would get results to patients sooner.

Both hospitals are unsure how soon they might get the equipment because of frequent changes in demand and in the supply chain for medical equipment.

Meanwhile, Beloit Health System has been processing tests at its own facility for about a week, the Beloit Daily News reported.

Beloit Health System can process about 25 tests per day with results sometimes coming back in as little as 45 minutes.

The Gazette was unable to reach representatives from Beloit Health System for further comment by press time.

Edgerton Hospital and Health Services has the capability to test on site but needs more of a chemical reagent needed to process samples, trauma manager Alison Hanaman said.

People who are tested have to be quarantined until they get results. Getting those results faster means less time in quarantine and more peace of mind for those who test negative, Mercyhealth Medical Director Mark Goelzer said.

Those who test positive have to be isolated until a public health nurse determines they have recovered.

Officials and epidemiologists nationwide have said more testing is a key step toward a return to normalcy.

Jeff Shadick, regional vice president of laboratory services for SSM Health, said more testing can help identify hot spots, such as the ones identified in meatpacking plants in the Green Bay area.

More widespread testing also helps public health workers determine how and where the disease has spread through contact tracing, he said.

State officials last week told providers to begin testing people with mild COVID-19 symptoms, leading to an uptick in the number of people tested.

In Rock County, 2,317 people have received test results since March 14. Of those, 615 have gotten results since Monday, or 27% of the total.

Mercyhealth, SSM Health and Edgerton Hospital officials said they have been able to conduct more testing but worry about the availability of testing supplies.

In the beginning, hospitals dealt with a reagent shortfall. Then the number of other supplies, primarily nasal swabs, reached critically low levels, Shadick said.

The good news is that the supply of testing materials is stabilizing as manufacturers get approval from the federal government for emergency production, Shadick said.

But hospitals, state organizations and the federal government are competing for the gear, making it difficult to get everyone what they need, Mercyhealths Goelzer said.

As of Friday, 222 Rock County residents have tested positive for COVID-19. Six people have died.

Mercyhealth

Mercyhealth is sending its tests to commercial labs and receiving results in a day or two, Goelzer said.

The system recently opened a second drive-thru site for testing, Goelzer said. Patients must be referred by a doctor before they can go to either drive-thru location.

Mercyhealth has the equipment needed to do in-house testing but is waiting to secure the appropriate supplies, Goelzer said. How soon the supplies come depends on the systems vendors, he said.

Mercyhealth also is working on attaining antibody tests to determine whether somebody might have already been infected, Goelzer said. Such testing is still in early stages of development and has varying levels of accuracy, he added.

Supply shortages prevent Mercyhealth, and most other hospitals, from doing as much testing as they want to do, Goelzer said.

SSM Health

Tests from SSM Health St. Marys Hospital-Janesville are processed at an SSM Health lab in Madison. Six couriers collect tests in Janesville each day and transport them there, Shadick said.

Patients get same-day results, Shadick said. Thats a major improvement from the beginning of the pandemic when it took six to eight days to get results.

SSM Healths regional lab can test 1,800 kits per month and serves seven hospitals in Wisconsin, Shadick said.

Tests are sent to commercial labs if the regional lab reaches capacity, Shadick said.

Equipment to test on site in Janesville has been ordered but is delayed as equipment is redirected to areas of greater need, Shadick said.

Edgerton Hospital

Edgerton Hospital is sending test results to commercial labs with results coming back in less than 24 hours, Hanaman said.

Tests are available at the hospital and at the systems clinic in Milton. Patients are evaluated upon arrival and are tested if they show COVID-19 symptoms, which include cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, and loss of taste or smell.

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Janesville hospitals hoping to add on-site COVID-19 test processing - Janesville Gazette